The following from John Loring, a broken pipe, is preserved on Pipedia and is consistent with my xperience when I actually chased 3 Nuns far and wide in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, mostly so I could give what I turned up to the late Basil Sullivan.
“
- Prior to the 1980's Three Nuns came either in an orange bordered solid brown (or earlier, sold black) 'coin twist' tin or through the 1960's in a 'knife lid' tin or prior to World War II in a hinged rectangular tin.
- In the 1980's the 'coin twist' tin was changed from orange bordered solid brown to an orange bordered brown wood grained and marked Made in Scotland although there are some 50 gram tins without that latter marking.
- In the 1990's production was shifted to Denmark. The Danish production came in both orange bordered solid brown and wood grained tins but all tins regardless of size or color are marked Made in Denmark either on the top or side of the tin top.”
The most desirable 3 Nuns were the first version John mentioned, solid black in an orange circle. Basil swore that the recipe changed when they went to solid brown, but he still thought those were worth chases no, so I did. The wood grain version was wimpy by comparison. One dimensional cigarette strip Virginia’s. These changes occurred while the blend was still U.K. made.
Savinelli Doblones d’Oro is, IMO, a blend Basil would absolutely approve of.
