Three Nuns

[JimInks]

I thought somewhere on a thread was the actual tobacco breakdown for Three Nuns, including the percentages and names of what tobaccos were used in the VaPer Three Nuns, but wasn't able to find it in the links Misterlowercase provided. Anybody else recall that particular list?

 

[mso489]

Get some first rate Virginia bulk tobacco and some blending Perique and see what you can mix at home.

I say mix because you may not want to put it under pressure and age it. I leave that the the pros. I suspect

if you experimented with a few different proportions, you would not get the classic Three Nuns experience,

but you'd be so pleased and satisfied with your custom mix along those lines, you'd be content in this

area for years. Three Women of a Devoted Religious Persuasion you could call it.

 

[JimInks]

MSO489: I'd want more than that. I know there's some red Va. and Brazilian lights (whatever that really is) along with the perique. There's may have been some Malawi in it, too.

 

[thedudeabides]

Jim this is the most detailed posting I have ever seen on the topic - originally posted by hfearly and included in the second link I provided.
My apologies for any redundancy here but I have never seen a further breakdown on the tobacco varietals beyond this description (such as where the bright Virginias originate).
Also, a quick question for you - do you think the topping/casing used today is the same (or similar) as the original?
1lb Three Nuns (Pre WW2-1971 recipe)

----------------------------

P1 15% Imported Perique (Louisiana)

P2 7% Manufactured Perique

P3 31% Filler (Burley)

P4 47% Wrapper (Bright Virginias)
Casing (F14) for the Production of Manufactured Perique P2

(23.5 lbs casing to 100 lbs of dry strips ob tobacco)

------------------------------------------------------

1.5 lbs BICARA (Rep Ref. 13A)

7.0 lbs MOLON (Rep Ref. 1A)

10.0 lbs CELANDO (Rep Ref. 5A)

5.0 lbs Water
Casing (M4) for the Treatment of Filler P3

(5.25 lbs casing to 100 lbs of dry strips of tobacco)

------------------------------------------------------

4.0 ozs CELANDO (Rep Ref. 5A)

5.0 lbs Water
Flavoring (215) for the Treatment of Imported Perique P1

(1.0 lbs of flvaoring per 100 lbs of wet tobacco leaf weight)

------------------------------------------------------

1.0 lbs BUTITE (U108)
Flavoring (208) for the Treatment of Manufactured Perique P2 and Filler P3

(5.25 floz per 100 lbs of whole blend)

------------------------------------------------------

0.25 floz of HALTRONER (Rep Ref. B3.1)

0.25 pint of BUTITE (U108)
50% of Flavoring 208 applied to Filler

50% of Flavoring 208 applied to Manufactured Perique
NOTE: Wrapper P4 leaves are unflavored
Decoding of Ingredients

------------------------------------------------------

1A "MOLON" = Reducing Sugars, Good quality invert sugar

5A "CELANDO" = Humectants, Glycerine

13A "BICARA" = Biding Agents, Gum arabic

B3.1 "HALTRONER" = Spices, Aniseed, Anethole

U108 "BUTITE" = Flavors, Demerara Rum, 40o O.P.
Manufacturing Notes

------------------------------------------------------

The Perique is imported in strip form in a manufactured state, having already

been processed in North America, where it's grown. All that has to be done is

to open up and separate the strips and to apply flavour by "spray in bed" form.

For this, the leaf is taken from the trollies and spread in layers in a bed on

a tiled floor. A previously measured amount of spray and water is sprayed on

each layer as the bed is made up layer by layer. This ensures even flavoring

throughout the bed. The flavored leaf is then picked up from the bed into

trollies that are covered with a stout canvas sheet and allowed to rest for at

least 24 hours. This allows the flavoring and moisture to permeate and even out

throughout the trolley contents (process known as "bulking"). The flavoured

Perique strips are then picked up into trollies and held until the filler and

wrapper portions are ready.
The filler grades are taken and by being passed through a conditioning machine

are pliable and capable of being handled so that all stems can be removed. After

stem removal, the filler strips are again passed through a conditioning machine

that gently warms them and makes them receptive to the flavour, which is applied

by sprays in a rotating cylinder through which the warmed strips are passed. The

flavored filler strips are discharged into trollies and bulked for 43 hours.
The wrapper leaf is selected by size of leaf, brightness of appearance, freedom

form blemishes, tears and breaks. The especially selected leaves are then

passed through a rotating cylinder fitter with water sprays and brought into a

suitable condition for stemming, which is done very thoroughly by hand. It is

then placed into trollies to await the amalgamation process where the wrapper

is combined with the Perique and the filler mix in a spinning process.
The spinner takes strips of Perique and rolls them into a very tight roll or

"string", keeping the diameter continuous by adding more Perique strips as

needed, as long as the rolling continues. The central core "string" is wrapped

with the filler strips and then wrapper in the wrapper leaves. The leading end

of the roll is then fed into a set of motor driven rollers which reduce the

hand rolled spun down to 7/16s of an inch in diameter, and at the same time

causing the tobacco to roll to turn on its axis and pass into the machine. This

turning and traversing action facilitates the spinning as the operator

continues to maintain the feed of Perique filler and wrapper by overlapping

further supplies as the ends pass through the spin machine.
The spun tobacco, known as "rope", is automatically wound onto reels or

bobbins, each holding 300 feet of an approximate weight of 25 lbs. These reels

are set aside and held for 48 hours. The rope is then unwound, cut into 4/5'

lengths that are take to a cutting machine and cut at 22 cuts to 1 inch each.

The cut tobacco is carefully placed into trays without damaging the flakes and

the trays are placed in a trolley and into a drying oven (265 F, 9 minutes).

The flakes are dried to the final desired packing moisture content (19/20%). On

removal from the drying oven, the flakes are allowed to cool and then (in the

same trays) is placed into a store and held for 24 hours, such that the

moisture is allowed to even out before the finished product is sent to the

packaging room.

 

[JimInks]

Thedudabides: I agree. That is the most comprehensive formula there is. I thought I had seen a description of what Virginias were used, but maybe my memory has failed or I saw it somewhere else that I can't remember now. Your post is much easier to go through than the links I've been reading. Thank you.
As for the topping question, the only thing I can say is that I have smoked a few bowls of Three Nuns from WW2, but the tobacco had degraded just a little. It tasted like a little heavier, little less spicey version of what I was used to. I started smoking it in 1982, and never noticed much of a change from then until the 2003 production beyond thinking the '80s version was slightly more peppery than the late '90s version. I have a friend who smoked it in the mid-1950s through most of the 1960s, and he gave up pipe smoking. When he returned to it sometime in the 1980s, he didn't think it had changed.

 

[timpiper]

Jim, Just wondering if the 1999 & 2000 imperial tobacco version of three nuns has that rumcake flavour, and aroma nuance that stays with you after the smoke. I've noticed this nuance in all the old tins I've had but I think they were pre imperial. Thanks.
Also did the three nuns really have 31% Burley as a filler? I'm thinking was all Virginia.

The only reference I can find is three nuns used "brights" The wrapper used was higher quality to hold it together. I believe that the perique substitute was a type of cavendish made with Virginia. In the UK I've read they often made cavendish with virginia rather than burley.
-Tim

 

[JimInks]

Timpiper: I never really thought the rum was all that noticeable. It seemed very lightly applied. I never felt it was plumy, either. It always seemed raisiny, figgy, spicy, with some tangy sweetness and a lightly persistent sour note that I really liked. I really liked the after taste. I believe the burley was Malawi.

 

[timpiper]

Thanks Jim. Would you say more fruit cake like then. I get the raisin. But it reminds me of plum pudding or fruitcake with rum or brandy in it. I get the spicy note its very sweet and spicy to me.

Maybe its also the age of what I've smoked, but nothing else is like it.

 

[JimInks]

Nothing else is like it indeed! It's my all time favorite smoke, so I am rather prejudiced on the subject. No, I can't say it ever reminded me of fruit cake because it wasn't sweet enough, and frankly, I hate fruit cake! If it was like that, I'd have never smoked it. I rank the sweet factor as between mild to medium. Again, I never got plum from it. The tangy sweetness came from the red Va., though I'm not sure what country it came from. That makes a difference because many Virginias grown overseas are different (usually stronger, tangier, and earthier) than what is grown in the US.

 

[drcarlo]

Opened a jar of this abomination which I re-named MacBaren No Name after a year. Maybe i changed my mind. Still same shit. A horrible experience. I gave away one tin. Three more in stock to give as gifts...or keep them in case tobacco is outlawed.

 

[seacaptain]

I tried Three Nuns a few weeks ago. That, along with Dark Star, is the worst tasting tobacco I've ever smoked. Simply awful.