Upon opening the tin, I picked a fruity, sultana like aroma akin to a dry port, nice but no latakia. After putting it into a pipe I've now dedicated to lats, the flavour was much the same with only a little lat coming through like a thin veneer of pepper. Not quite what I expected but a pleasant smoke nonetheless. However, after a third of the tin, the latakia started to come through a bit stronger and has maintained this presence so far. It's not dominant but is closer to an equal partner with the virginia and the cavendish. The oriental is yet to rear it's head but it might make an appearance later in the show.

On the whole then, a very good smoke so far. I found with my last tin of Rattray's, I was just smoking it to finish off the packet, having got bored of it. That sometimes happens with me, even with good tobaccos, where i just want to polish the tin off and get on with another tobacco. This, however, I am happy to continue smoking with no rush. It might take me another six weeks to polish it off but I'm perfectly happy happy with that.

The tin aroma is delicious: VA sweetness with a little nuttiness; some BC pepper in there. The leaf is a thin ribbon, the colours are about equal bright, brown and black; the BC presence in there is more noticeable than that of Latakia. Like all Rattray's blends, this one is composed of top notch leaf.

Stuffing, lighting and maintenance are all what I had expected; standard, nothing out of the ordinary. But to my surprise, this blend produces lots of condensation; I have to run a cleaner through the stem a couple of times during the smoke to stop the pipe from gurgling. The taste is mostly sweet, with a touch of spice, but for me, far far from full.

I classify this as a morning smoke for myself; it's not bad, but for something advertised as being "full," it does not deliver. I will finish the remains of my tin, but will not buy again. For perspective: I have about half of my pipes dedicated to Latakia-based blends, and the other half to VA/Pers, Burleys and so on, with two corn cobs serving for aromatics. I smoke this in two of my VA/Per/Bur pipes and do not expect to have to do much maintenance when changing those pipes over to the next blend...

Update 2012-04-25: I have tried this in my Falcons, and in those it develops some taste; maybe this is a blend that works best without a filter. I'll enjoy the rest of my tin that way, then.

Sadly, 3 Noggins is a poor addition to the Rattray's line. Harsh and slightly bitter, I can not see how CR made this from 7 Reserve, a much better blend. Advice on making the most of this is to dry it well and smoke it slowly. 3 Noggins only just makes it above a negative recommendation, that is to say, try it. Where I could not, you may find what Charles Rattray's customer wanted when he asked for a change from 7 Reserve.

A Scottish that leans more toward the English side - with more latakia and less cavenish - than, say, Jocks or 7 Reserve. I'm a fan of this style of blend, and, for me, 3 Noggins really delivers.

The flavor and strength of this was mild to my tastebuds. It almost tasted like Syrian latakia but I'm quite certain that wasn't in the original recipe so unless K&K has changed things, they must have toned down the Cyprian by using it sparingly and covering it up with cavendish and orientals. The virginias are of the sweeter variety. Now this is what I call a balanced tobacco. Everything seems to meld together. The flavor is subdued but as the description reads, it's heavier in body. As mentioned, that must mean more nicotine, but such did not register to me as an overabundance. This is a good tobacco but unfortunately, it does not state its case as a classic the way many of the other Rattrays do. I recommend this as something a lot of people would enjoy but at its price tag, there are others from different blenders I'd recommend first. This doesn't assert itself the way Red Rap, HOTW or many of the other Rattrays do. I'd recommend Highland Targe or Jocks over this to someone who is searching for a classic Rattray of this genre.

A bit pricey, but not bad to have on hand.

Journal Notes, February 10, 1980: Full, no. Medium at best. The noggins must be Virginia, Turkish and Latakia. Blend kicks up Oriental throughout. Some toast, some pastry. A little smoke/campfire. Nothing to get excited about. Back to BS 759.

Journal Notes, May 1984: Tin dated 2/10/80. Dry, not brittle. Burns well. No bite. No Latakia. Mostly Turkish with some Virginia foundation. Ho Hum. Into mason jar.

Journal Notes, April 2000: Jar dated 5/84. Where in the hell did this come from? Nice Virginia Turkish, but nothing special. Last bowl. Still nice, but boring. Like the short cut of the tobacco. Lights easily, burns well.

Journal Notes, January 2000: New tin dated 3/98. Not bad, not good. Oriental upfront, nice Virginias...sweet and balanced. Back in the jar you go.

August 2008: Age has been kind to the 3 Knot-Heads, but still not a go-to smoke. Nice as a nostalgia smoke.

Better stuff out there at a better price.

Again, the original had Syrian latakia and Kopp seems to have replaced the latakia components in these blends with sweetened black cavendish. On it's own merit this is a nice tobacco. The virginia is sweet and soft at the beginning and later becomes tangy. The oriental tobaccos are present and add some nice spice about 1/4 of the way into the bowl. It really is a pleasant blend and the quality of the tobacco is very high. I liked this blend and will smoke it occasionally. However, I believe that if they are going to call this "3 Noggins" and use vintage tin art then it should be closer to the original blend and have some of the fragrant properties of latakia present.

I tried this because I was not happy with the way Red Rapparree is currently being blended - looking for something not as stringent on the palate and 3 Noggins fills the bill nicely for me. Smooth and almost creamy on the palate.

Jay

It's an interesting blend, but as others (more erudite in smoking terminology) have pointed out, it comes across as somewhat bland (if not full) English and has a bit of tongue bite. I remember it being a smoother, fuller, and sweeter, but not particularly exciting blend. However, it still works well in small bowls. I tend to smoke very large bowls, and 3 Noggins just doesn't continue to please more than half way down. That's when it starts biting. And boring. In a large bowl, packed half way, it's worth the time. But, it will never again be a staple.

In my opinion this is a medium-full blend with VA?s, Orientals and black unsweetened Cavendish, I agree with Jakob that there is little to no latakia present (probably none). When smoked slowly this is a very nice tobacco with a very addictive malt/beer flavor and when I say beer I don't mean Budweiser, I mean real beer like an oatmeal stout. The orientals make themselves known periodically throughout the smoke but the VA?s and Cavendish dominate. I recommend smoking indoors in a large bowled pipe and if you over-puff, the smoke will become harsh and the flavor will go flat. I think this is a good spring/summer blend and could even be an all day smoke as I have done so on occasion.

I often pair tobacco?s smoking two pipes side by side. This blend does well with straight VA?s or VA/Per?s but doesn?t do well with latakia blends. So if you?re an adamant latakia smoker I don?t recommend this particular blend, but for you VA lovers or even an aromatic smoker looking to try an English/Scottish blend this is worth your time and money.

It should be noted that this was a K&K tin aged one year.

There is only a smidgen of Latakia in this mixture, if any at all. The black specks are probably unsweetened Cavendish. My first impression was that this is an unusually bland mixture, but smoked with care, as evere Rattrays' should be smoked, this bright VA blend might make a good morning smoke for some.

It is very light, fragile and not spicy at all. This is IMHO exactly how a bright VA should be like. The Latakia and the (almost non-present) amount of orientals make 3 Noggins a little more interesting than many pure bright VA's in the same category.

Smoked in the evening, it is just plain boring...

Jakob Kiilerich, Denmark