Bell's Three Nuns (Mac Baren)

[johnsteam86]

While not the iconic Three Nuns that was supposedly smoked by the great writers C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien this Three Nuns does take the cake when it comes to a good smoke. Upon opening the the tin you get a mild smoke scent with a rush of tangy,sweet from the virginia. The overall look of the tobacco where it gets intriguing. Labeled spun cut there is more loose than there is of coin and the coins that are there are only about 1/2-5/8's in size making the fold & stuff method very difficult to do. Upon rubbing a couple of the small coins out and lighting it made a somewhat hot smoke. While able to sufficiently on a smaller cob pipe to fold and stuff the smoke came out nice and cold. For bigger pipes would recommend doing a mixture of both to maintain evenness of light. Now lets get down to the nitty gritty of it all the taste and room note. When lit initially I felt as if I was transported across the sea into a little pub that only visits me in my dreams. Laughter and drinks being passed around while the smell of old wood walls encompasses my nostiles. The smell of fine matured hardwood slowly sifts its way through the air making a pleasant room note. The taste I had to think about for a little bit but there was a little bit of caramel and a pseudo walnut/pecan flavor. Tied with a nice cup of coffee this tobacco combination makes for a pleasant morning or afternoon smoke. I can honestly say that I rather enjoyed this one and though the wait for it to come in was a little bit of tongue biter (No Tongue Bite In The Smoke) I would definitely buy more of this to keep on hand. This one would also be a good candidate for aging a couple years to see how it contrasts in flavors over a slow maturity.
Overall I give this one **** 4/5

 

[jazz]

I've seen mixed reviews of this over the years but could say that of anything. I have never tried it as it's yet another that is no longer available in the UK. We have the ready rubbed but from what I understand it's not the same and gets poor ratings.

 

[seacaptain]

Not kidding, this is one of my top 5 worst blends that I've ever tried.

 

[kcghost]

No perique, as in the original, ruined this blend for me.

 

[cigrmaster]

Nice review and if you like the new TN then I am happy for you. It is always fun finding a blend you really enjoy.
No perique makes this blend a blasphemer of the worst kind. People should have boycotted it instead of buying it in droves. I will look at my last real Three Nuns tin and remember what real Three Nuns tastes like. :mrgreen:

 

[derekflint]

I think this is one of those love or hate it blends.......

 

[johnsteam86]

It is if you look at all the online stores the reviews are mixed between the good and the bad but it is like that with most pipe blends. Some really like it and some don't. Nothing wrong with it everyone has their own taste.

 

[d4k23]

I tried this as one of my first tins that I purchased last October. I smoked about 3 bowls and had a hard time enjoying it. Burned my mouth and smelled like a cigarette. I read that a little age helps smooth the edges so its sitting at the bottom of my Cellar awaiting for another day. Price was higher than other stuff I have enjoyed.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Jazz:My understanding is that Three Nuns is still available there in pouch form?Furthermore, I have been told they recently ceased the Production of Players Flake in England?

 

[seanv]

I just ordered a tin of this. Not sure what to expect but it sounds like it’s worth a try. Smoke a few bowls and decide if it’s a staple or a jar for later type

 

[sablebrush52]

Three Nuns was made with Kentucky substituted for Perique back in the day. If you're looking for something that's closer to the Va/Per version of Three Nuns there is none nicer than Savinelli Doblone d'Oro.

 

[cortezattic]

Thanks for taking the time to write a nice post.

 

[danish]

Thanks for the initial impressions, although I would never trust my own reviews, until after several tins over a longer period. But that's just me and my old palates. By the way, I smoked this tobacco everyday for some years in the nineties and I still like it a lot. The My Own Blend copy does not fully match the Mac Baren Three Nuns, which is closer to the original, I think: Although I would never be able to tell how close, after so many years. If famous people smoked this or not, I couldn't care. I am sure many famous writers smoked a lot of heavily cased and flavoured OTC crap but that doesn't make their books worse to me

 

[thomasw]

@johnsteam86, FWIW, I read that Tolkein's son Christopher stated that his father smoked Capstan Blue regularly. That VA flake is very fine indeed and also is currently produced by Mac Baren.

 

[3rdguy]

Nice review thanks.
I like the blend but I don't have the baggage of smoking the earlier versions. It is a little on the pricey side for what it is however. IMO

 

[lordofthepiperings]

I like this edition. Never had the original with Perique. I do have some blending Perique, so maybe I'll rub out some coins and mix it in for a few bowls and see what happens. Wanna say right now I have about ten unopened tins in the cellar.

 

[workman]

I'm going to try the Three Nuns in a week or so. This summer I am travelling to Denmark, and I will try to get my hands on a tin of My Own Blends' Tre Nonner (Three Nuns). My Own Blend is under the STG umbrella as is Orlik, and they make this from an old Orlik recipe that contains perique. It will be interesting to compare them.

 

[jazz]

Jazz: My understanding is that Three Nuns is still available there in pouch form?Furthermore, I have been told they recently ceased the Production of Players Flake in England?

Correct, we can get the ready rubbed in the pouch but as far as I'm aware it's not the same blend as the curly cut in the tin which is not available here. I could be wrong on this but JimInks seemed convinced of it in the reviews I read and that chap has smoked more pipe tobacco than I'm ever likely to. Consequently, I tend to trust his judgement on these matters. I've never smoked either so I can't talk from the angle of experience.
I wonder, does anyone here know if they are the same tobacco presented differently or if in fact, they are different.
As for Player's Flake, I know nothing.

 

[JimInks]

Jazz is correct, and I thank you for the compliment. The pouch version was not the same as the tinned VaPer version. It was a shed cut with different tobacco proportions, and in my estimation, inferior to the coin cut version. I haven't smoked a recent pouch version, so I don't know if it was changed by MacBaren or not.
I find the current MacBaren version okay, but vastly different and not as good as the original. I have heard from those who aged it, that it's better that way, but I haven't opened any of my aged tins to verify that one way or another.
Sablebrush's mention of the Savinelli Doblone D'Oro is accurate. It's about 85% close to the VaPer version, and closer to VaPer Three Nuns than any other clone, including the My Own Blend one that was previously mentioned in this thread. That version doesn't have the perique content of the original and is sweeter, too.

 

[johnsteam86]

I've been watching pipestuds website to see if he has any of the original come up for sale even if it is only one tin but so far haven't seen any but hoping for in the future. I would really like to cellar as much as I can of the original.