Personal Blends ?

[sfsteves]

I began smoking pipes years ago, then allowed them to languish for quite a while after the original Three Nuns went away. I had always enjoyed a good cigar but after I couldn't find a blend I liked, began smoking cigars exclusively and paid little attention to available pipe blends. The rising cost of cigars caused me to think again about my pipes and I've been experimenting with a number of blends, but have yet to find anything that approached the enjoyment I used to get from Three Nuns.
There is apparently nothing on the market that is on the same level that Three Nuns used to be. The 'new' version isn't a VaPer blend and it's not even a pale imitation. Some VaPers I've found are better than others and I'm still somewhat hopeful that I can find one I really like, BUT ...
I've been giving some thought to creating my own blend and am wondering if the cumulative knowledge of the membership here can offer some pointers, either in the right direction or steering me away from mistakes.

I don't like Latakia ... I find it objectionable, and what I'm hoping to find is a formula that will give me some idea of the percentage of Perique to add and which Virginias will work best to achieve my goal of creating what amounts to a home-made substitute for the Original Three Nuns which was a blend of full, mature Virginia and Perique.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[andypandy]

I don't know if this will help, but here's something...
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/evl27a99/pdf

 

[amiller]

The only thing I would offer is that I remember reading somewhere that perique is sometimes added in as small as %5 of the total mixture. So maybe start with less perique than you initially think. Never had the old Three Nuns, so I cant speak to that specifically.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

As far as mature Virginia to mix with Perique I'd suggest getting a tin of McClelland's Christmas Cheer. It's a straight Virginia blend of the highest quality they could find. I believe this year's is from a 2009 crop. For Perique, I'm sure most online retailers will have it available in bulk. Not sure about the ratio though because I didn't get into the hobby until after Three Nuns was off the market.

 

[cigrmaster]

Sorry to say but you will not find a duplicate of Three Nuns by trying to blend your own, ain't happening. I also loved the stuff and have searched wide and far for a replacement but to no avail. I will say that I do smoke 5 Vapers as part of my regular rotation and do enjoy them all. Here are the ones I smoke.
Escudo

Samuel Gawith St James Flake

Solani 633

Dan Tobacco Treasures of Limerick

Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls
All of these are flakes or coins and for my tastes, I enjoy them a great deal. I have tried both the Wessex Soverign and Heinrichs Curly which are both copies looks wise to Three Nuns, but neither have anywhere near the flavor of TN. I believe I read that TN had around 20% Perique, and my guess for these two would be no more than 8%.
Of all the ones on my list, the Solani 633 after a decade or more comes closest to the TN. It is a blend where the Perique gets much stronger as it ages. I have some 2002 and it is a Perique bomb, where as the fresh stuff has no where near the same level of Perique flavors.

 

[sfsteves]

I have no illusions about being able to duplicate TN in a personal blend, just hoping to create a reasonable substitute ... I too have landed on Escudo, Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls and SG St James Flake and have considered Solani 633 ... I'll have to add the Dan Tobacco to the list of candidates ...
I agree that TN was pretty high in Perique percentage and 20 or even 25% would not surprise me at all ... the relatively low percentage found in most VaPers is, IMO, one of the reasons why they just haven't got that old TN magic ...

 

[andypandy]

22% Perique according to this.

 

[joeahearn]

I don't know if this will help, but here's something...
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/evl27a99/pdf

22% Perique! Ye gods!

 

[sfsteves]

OK ... here's the update ...
I spoke with Steve Books at House of Calabash ... at this point, he's not up and running with his TN clone, but expects to be later in the year. When he's done, I'll be his customer for it. And yes, he confirmed that Perique is, in fact, more than 20% of the blend as Andy indicates.
Meantime, I'm going to continue to roll with some of the available stuff on the market including Escudo, St James Flake, Dunhill Navy Rolls, Solani 633 and perhaps Treasures of Limerick.
My thanks to those of you who have responded with what is absolutely terrific information ... I'm really looking forward to enjoying my pipes again as I used to do ...

 

[cigrmaster]

roth, the 2006 or 2007( can't remember) Limerick I recently bought seems to have a nice Perique kick to it. I have never smoked it fresh so I have no idea what it is like, but it sounds like it may be like the Solani 633 where the age really brings out the Perique.

 

[pitchfork]

According to the documents, there were a fair number of flavorings added to TN in addition to all that Perique. I don't know if MacBaren knows what the ingredients listed in the casing recipe here really are, or not, or even if they have the rights to produce the original, but you have to wonder how important the various casing ingredients are to the overall flavor of the original TN.
One of them was "Haltroner," also called anethole, which is an essential oil found in anise and fennel that is commercially derived from tree bark. I can't figure out what "Butite" is, or "Bicara."
For some wild sounding flavorings, check out this ingredient list for the casing used on St. Bruno:
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/action/document/page?tid=pzk84a99

 

[andypandy]

For some wild sounding flavorings, check out this ingredient list for the casing used on St. Bruno:
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/action/document/page?tid=pzk84a99

Dang!

 

[northernneil]

I got excited when I saw this thread because I am in the process of preparing a home made kiln to start fermenting the tobacco I grew in my garden last year. It has been openly hung in my basement for the last year averaging around 70-F and 60% humidity. Some of the leaves are glistening with sugar crystals. I have bundled them and plan to hang in the kiln for about 6 weeks to sweat the leafs out.
I would like to make some flake tobacco from my bright leaf, and was wondering about adding perique. Would I be able to spread the perique through the whole leaf while pressing, or should I make the flake, then rub out and add the perique? Pretty sure getting my hands on whole leaf perique is out of the questions hahaha.

 

[kanaia]

For some wild sounding flavorings, check out this ingredient list for the casing used on St. Bruno.
Civet extract? yumm