Codger Gold!! C&D Three Friars: Opinions?

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

Watch for Updates Twice a Week

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Drucquers Banner

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

edger

Lifer
Dec 9, 2016
2,988
22,299
74
Mayer AZ
Wow, has this grown on me in the last few years. Most OTC drug store blends just don't have enough intensity for me. This stuff is cheap and available in bulk. Great all day smoke with some piquancy and because of its chunky blend you get moments of variety down through the entire bowl. I'd be interested in your opinions.
 

edger

Lifer
Dec 9, 2016
2,988
22,299
74
Mayer AZ
I should add that this blend has nothing to do with the original Bell's Three Nuns. I've smoked both and I think the name has done a disservice to the C&D blend. Too much disappointment from those looking for the original. It is excellent in it's own right if treated properly. Most definitely a sipping tobacco, or your tongue will protest!
 

beezer

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 12, 2013
618
743
I'm nearly done with the 8oz jar I've been slowly smoking through and this blend is in my Top 5 as well.

I love this stuff. Not sure what it is exactly, but I prefer it over most of the top shelf blends in my cellar and the price can't be beat. Fantastic blend! I'm going to have to reorder more this week.
 

edger

Lifer
Dec 9, 2016
2,988
22,299
74
Mayer AZ
I'm nearly done with the 8oz jar I've been slowly smoking through and this blend is in my Top 5 as well.

I love this stuff. Not sure what it is exactly, but I prefer it over most of the top shelf blends in my cellar and the price can't be beat. Fantastic blend! I'm going to have to reorder more this week.
It's basically a VA/BUR/PER. The virginias are tangy and bright. The burley adds mellow "baritone" element, and the good quality perique in chunky strips adds zest. If this had been available in drug stores decades ago, it would have been a codger's delight!
 

haparnold

Lifer
Aug 9, 2018
1,561
2,389
Colorado Springs, CO
Three Friars is my desert island smoke. I love it. Here's my review:

Note: I won't be discussing this blend in reference to either the original or the current Three Nuns. I've never smoked it, and I don't think this blend needs comparison to any other.

I generally know whether I'll like a blend or not after my first bowl.

Three Friars is the exception to this rule. This was the first Burley and Perique blend I had ever smoked, and I didn't quite know what to make of it. My first impression was that it had a funky 'old man' taste. But after smoking a few bowls, I grew to like it. In fact, I grew to REALLY like it.

The burley is the star of the show in this blend, but the perique adds a really important element and makes it delightful. The grassy Virginia plays a backup role in this, but I would miss it if it weren't there. The smoke is pretty full and rich, and has a kind of grey velvet quality.

Something I really like about this blend, and which makes it a perfect all day smoke is that the flavor is very consistent throughout the bowl. You can enjoy it as you light it, zone out and forget about it for a while, and come back to it without missing anything.

If you're a burley fan but are looking for something a little more interesting than a codger burley, but which can still do service as a no-fuss all-day smoke, look no further than Three Friars.
 

haparnold

Lifer
Aug 9, 2018
1,561
2,389
Colorado Springs, CO
Also, I know we talk about this as being Haunted Bookshop Jr., but I think it's actually Virginia Gentleman with Perique added. Or at least, it's similar enough that if Three Friars went out of production (heaven forbid), I would try to recreate it with this as a starting point.
 

edger

Lifer
Dec 9, 2016
2,988
22,299
74
Mayer AZ
Three Friars is my desert island smoke. I love it. Here's my review:
Excellent review. This blend has been held back by the very issue you describe out the outset. It doesn't always make a good first impression, but sneaks up on you if you give it a chance. Good books and good music can be the same way. I've found, in 50 years of pipe smoking, that a blend has something to teach me if I'm willing to be taught. This is a good example.
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,340
Also, I know we talk about this as being Haunted Bookshop Jr., but I think it's actually Virginia Gentleman with Perique added. Or at least, it's similar enough that if Three Friars went out of production (heaven forbid), I would try to recreate it with this as a starting point.
You could likely have success with their blending tobaccos. Even portions each of Virginia, Perique, and Burly IIRC.
 

trubka2

Lifer
Feb 27, 2019
2,470
21,640
I really want to like 3 Friars, and I've been periodically revisiting a jar of it for over a year. But it bites the hell out of me for some reason, so I can't smoke it. I smoke plenty of the other C&D VaBurPers with no problem, but this one hates me. I have the same thing with Yorktown.
 

Papamique

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 11, 2020
789
3,953
Yorktown gets a lot of love and I can’t get behind that one except to use it as a blending component. I guess the plus side is, it is easy for me to leave it alone to age.

I just ordered three friars to give that another go. I hope I like it better than the last time-years ago.
 
  • Like
Reactions: edger
Mar 29, 2016
1,006
5,540
Wow, has this grown on me in the last few years. Most OTC drug store blends just don't have enough intensity for me. This stuff is cheap and available in bulk. Great all day smoke with some piquancy and because of its chunky blend you get moments of variety down through the entire bowl. I'd be interested in your opinions.

Nothing else to add :sher:
 
  • Like
Reactions: edger

edger

Lifer
Dec 9, 2016
2,988
22,299
74
Mayer AZ
I really want to like 3 Friars, and I've been periodically revisiting a jar of it for over a year. But it bites the hell out of me for some reason, so I can't smoke it. I smoke plenty of the other C&D VaBurPers with no problem, but this one hates me. I have the same thing with Yorktown.
It could be as simple(or complex) as mouth chemistry. My batch is a little over a year in the cellar, and that has smoothed it I will admit. In any event, it's definitely a sipper that I keep barely smoldering at all times.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RobNYC and JOHN72