A question about an old tins of Bell’s Three Nuns!
- Thread starter Sankt Pöltener
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I will post photos when I arrive from work this evening. I have much of my tobacco kept under passive rehydration to keep it from drying out.
The following link is to a great research thread on the topic of the original Three Nuns topping:
A Real Three Nuns Substitute :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion
The reference in those ads to "Kings Head" has me curious. Anyone ever get any of that? Was he getting "Kings Head" from Three Nuns???( I know, I know, I'll go to hell)... I didn't even see myself walking right into that one! Lol
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Wow… that’s very interesting, thank you so much for sharing this information!
It’s crazy how far people goes to recreate this legendary blend.
Amen to that (pun intended)! I even made my own journey down the byzantine (or was it Benedictine?) path here:
Two Nuns and a Seminarian :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion
Obviously I am up to something involving the old stalwart, Three Nuns. For 30 years I’ve mostly smoked cherry aromatics and OTC blends and was (and still am) completely content. Recently I’ve been cleaning out the old family house where dad lived and came across cans of well over a dozen...
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So I placed the tobacco in a glass container with snap lid, and I placed a small bowl of distilled water in the middle of the bowl, inside the small bowl I put a paper towel to act as a wick.
After three days the tobacco now is rehydrated and I’ve smoke a bowel of it, it tastes fantastic, very spicy because of the Perique I guess, and the aged virginias taste as they should, I can’t detect an obvious topping, and the tobacco berns a bit fast but not hot at all.
Next I’m thinking to remove the bowl with distilled water and place on the top of the tobacco a few flakes of Germain’s Rich Dark Flake to add an extra moisture and a bit flavor.
After three days the tobacco now is rehydrated and I’ve smoke a bowel of it, it tastes fantastic, very spicy because of the Perique I guess, and the aged virginias taste as they should, I can’t detect an obvious topping, and the tobacco berns a bit fast but not hot at all.
Next I’m thinking to remove the bowl with distilled water and place on the top of the tobacco a few flakes of Germain’s Rich Dark Flake to add an extra moisture and a bit flavor.
Now, for the purposes of experimentation, take the current iteration of Three Nuns and dry it out, say for three months rather than thirty years, and try seeing if it "comes back" after rehydrating.
I'm very much risk adverse when it comes to pipe tobacco having lived through the banking crisis earlier this century when supplies of pipe tobacco almost stopped completely on the island of Cyprus in the Eastern Medetteranian where my sadly lovely now late wife came from where we and now only I now in full retirement have lived and worked for the last twenty five years.
During the tobacco famine I would stop at every tobacconists supermarket village shop and small roadside kiosk that I found and ask if they had any pipe tobacco at all to sell. Most had nothing but occassionally I'd be told that yes they had some but that it wasn't any good as the seal had blown on the tin. I would ask to see it and in a country where average long summer day time temperatures exceed 40'C you may well imagine what I found upon inspection of the tobacco, dust of course and some very dried up tobacco. No matter I'd ask what price they wanted for it, a few would say it's yours take it at no charge while others would want an extortionate amount for something they'd never sell and probably thinking I was crazy we'd settle on a price of no more than €10 for 50g, €18.50 having being the going rate for the good stuff before the banking crisis.
Of the later produced dried up tobacco that I found the STC Erinmore Flake tins that had not so long before been changed to a square low profile were by far the worst offenders and although the ER was bone dry it hadn't quite dried to dust in any great significance. Purely by chance I came across a tobacconists shop owned by a Mr Dinos, he's Mr as in Greek culture anyone older than you is respected and although he's only one year older than me at seventy five standards have to be maintained. Then recently retired from the financial sector the shop which had been his fathers, a tobacconist in the old sense of the word he wasn't under the financial pressures of younger tobacconists as the business was more of hobby to him where he could meet friends old and new making the shop more of a club house at times and where coffee is constantly on the boil.
Mr Dinos ever the speculator was busy buying up redundant stock from tobacconists that were being forced into closure as suppliers were demanding cash up front for deliveries of tobacco cigarettes and cigars, he never dealt in cigarettes as he didn't want to get involved in the arguments about illegal sales to under eighteens where respect went out of the window and the police plus local trading standards inspectors were waiting in the wings to jump on anyone who supplied cigarettes to under age minors. His purchases were mostly of cigars providing they'd been stored in a humidor as good as his own pipes pipe and cigar smoking accessories of which because of the quantity he purchased spilled over into his home with some especially pipes still there which is another story of lucky finds for me albeit that it didn't take place until two weeks ago thanks to a cigar smoking US sailor and his pipe smoking dad in San Dieago. Unfortunately there wasn't much in the way of tobacco as by then even with his ability to pay on delivery pipe tobacco was no longer available as suppliers had stopped ordering from overseas.
Mr Dinos and I spoke at length about pipe tobacco and when he realised that I was willing to buy blown seals tobacco tins he told me that he was certain he could get that we struck a deal at €8 per 50g tin on condition that I'd buy everything he acquired. Later thinking I might have written a blank cheque I'd worried that I might soon be the owner of a truck load of tobacco but I shouldn't have done so as he self imposed a limit of ten 50g tins a week which he'd fulfil with varying degrees of success. My late wife then reasonably active had slipped into regular Greek grandmother mode cooking all and everything she could lay her hands on so using her kitchen and utility room for tobacco rehydration purposes was out of the question. I remembered my grandfather growing his own tobacco in the UK up until his death in the 1960's, powerful stuff he'd calm it down by adding a little mild St. Julian to his tobacco tin and a cabbage leaf or if too dry a piece of potatoe peel which when I tried it reduced the dry tobacco to a soggy pulp, after that I tried lemon and orange peel in varying amounts which worked very well at no risk to the tobacco, all manufacturers topping and flavouring having long gone and the tobacco never picking up on the scents of orange or lemon. I started with the equivelant size of peel to that of a medium sized fruit segment adding more if required leaving the peel in the tin until it became hard and dry and the tobacco rehydrated and entirely smokeable, as a bonus the hard dried peel I've used as fishing lures the bright colouring on one side and the off white of the other attracting the fresh water wide mouthed bass better than any of the Rappala lures I've used.
During the tobacco famine I would stop at every tobacconists supermarket village shop and small roadside kiosk that I found and ask if they had any pipe tobacco at all to sell. Most had nothing but occassionally I'd be told that yes they had some but that it wasn't any good as the seal had blown on the tin. I would ask to see it and in a country where average long summer day time temperatures exceed 40'C you may well imagine what I found upon inspection of the tobacco, dust of course and some very dried up tobacco. No matter I'd ask what price they wanted for it, a few would say it's yours take it at no charge while others would want an extortionate amount for something they'd never sell and probably thinking I was crazy we'd settle on a price of no more than €10 for 50g, €18.50 having being the going rate for the good stuff before the banking crisis.
Of the later produced dried up tobacco that I found the STC Erinmore Flake tins that had not so long before been changed to a square low profile were by far the worst offenders and although the ER was bone dry it hadn't quite dried to dust in any great significance. Purely by chance I came across a tobacconists shop owned by a Mr Dinos, he's Mr as in Greek culture anyone older than you is respected and although he's only one year older than me at seventy five standards have to be maintained. Then recently retired from the financial sector the shop which had been his fathers, a tobacconist in the old sense of the word he wasn't under the financial pressures of younger tobacconists as the business was more of hobby to him where he could meet friends old and new making the shop more of a club house at times and where coffee is constantly on the boil.
Mr Dinos ever the speculator was busy buying up redundant stock from tobacconists that were being forced into closure as suppliers were demanding cash up front for deliveries of tobacco cigarettes and cigars, he never dealt in cigarettes as he didn't want to get involved in the arguments about illegal sales to under eighteens where respect went out of the window and the police plus local trading standards inspectors were waiting in the wings to jump on anyone who supplied cigarettes to under age minors. His purchases were mostly of cigars providing they'd been stored in a humidor as good as his own pipes pipe and cigar smoking accessories of which because of the quantity he purchased spilled over into his home with some especially pipes still there which is another story of lucky finds for me albeit that it didn't take place until two weeks ago thanks to a cigar smoking US sailor and his pipe smoking dad in San Dieago. Unfortunately there wasn't much in the way of tobacco as by then even with his ability to pay on delivery pipe tobacco was no longer available as suppliers had stopped ordering from overseas.
Mr Dinos and I spoke at length about pipe tobacco and when he realised that I was willing to buy blown seals tobacco tins he told me that he was certain he could get that we struck a deal at €8 per 50g tin on condition that I'd buy everything he acquired. Later thinking I might have written a blank cheque I'd worried that I might soon be the owner of a truck load of tobacco but I shouldn't have done so as he self imposed a limit of ten 50g tins a week which he'd fulfil with varying degrees of success. My late wife then reasonably active had slipped into regular Greek grandmother mode cooking all and everything she could lay her hands on so using her kitchen and utility room for tobacco rehydration purposes was out of the question. I remembered my grandfather growing his own tobacco in the UK up until his death in the 1960's, powerful stuff he'd calm it down by adding a little mild St. Julian to his tobacco tin and a cabbage leaf or if too dry a piece of potatoe peel which when I tried it reduced the dry tobacco to a soggy pulp, after that I tried lemon and orange peel in varying amounts which worked very well at no risk to the tobacco, all manufacturers topping and flavouring having long gone and the tobacco never picking up on the scents of orange or lemon. I started with the equivelant size of peel to that of a medium sized fruit segment adding more if required leaving the peel in the tin until it became hard and dry and the tobacco rehydrated and entirely smokeable, as a bonus the hard dried peel I've used as fishing lures the bright colouring on one side and the off white of the other attracting the fresh water wide mouthed bass better than any of the Rappala lures I've used.
Thank you so much Joe, I have made the sauce like in your recipe (I replace the brown sugar with some black treacle , and I spray it on the old three nuns tobacco that I rehydrated, I heated the tobacco in the microwave a little bit, and wrapped it in cling wrap and transfer the tobacco puck in a mason jar.and now I’ll let it rest for 2 weeks as you mentioned.
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This is all very interesting. I'd smoked the Va/Per/Bur Three Nuns back in the day and was mightily disappointed with the VA/Ky version that MacBaren released. I remember thinking how much it smelled like mildewed sweat socks.
I read through the 2014 thread with all of the references to the UCSF library contents, a resource I used to consult years ago. The thread must have preceded the introduction of MacBaren's Savinelli Doblone D'Oro, which was a recreation of the Va/Per Three Nuns and a damned good one. Unfortunately, like a lot of blends, it has drifted over the years and is no longer a Three Nuns clone, just a pleasant lump.
I still have a few tins of the 2014 and 2015 Doblone D'Oro tins and will enjoy as a special occasion smoke, as nothing else will come close.
If you come across the 2014 and 2015 tins of Savinelli Doblone D'Oro and it's not insanely priced, grab it. You'll experience something very close to the classic Va/Per Three Nuns without having to donate a kidney for the experience.
I read through the 2014 thread with all of the references to the UCSF library contents, a resource I used to consult years ago. The thread must have preceded the introduction of MacBaren's Savinelli Doblone D'Oro, which was a recreation of the Va/Per Three Nuns and a damned good one. Unfortunately, like a lot of blends, it has drifted over the years and is no longer a Three Nuns clone, just a pleasant lump.
I still have a few tins of the 2014 and 2015 Doblone D'Oro tins and will enjoy as a special occasion smoke, as nothing else will come close.
If you come across the 2014 and 2015 tins of Savinelli Doblone D'Oro and it's not insanely priced, grab it. You'll experience something very close to the classic Va/Per Three Nuns without having to donate a kidney for the experience.
Usually, when this type of tobacco is in that state, you can certainly try and rehydrate it but it will, most likely, have lost all flavor. A pity, really.