Mac Baren Three Nuns

I unfortunately was not able to obtain any tins of this, so, after an extensive battle of conscience I relented & bought a pouch of the ready-rubbed variety now avaliable. I think that something was undoubtedly lost in transition from tin to pouch if the reviews here are to be believed. I found this blend to be a fairly pleasant & easy smoke that requires little to no maintenance to imbibe, but it does have a slight bite to it. The flavour (what there is of it) is quite pleasant, but is so mild as to take the tobacco dangerously close to bland territory. I do detect some of the nuttiness, but it is not consistent & fades after the first half of the bowl. The smoke can also quite easily become hot, but this can be cured by exercising more self-control! I am sad that I have not been able to smoke the original tinned tobacco as to try this tobacco without rubbing out would possibly have cured all the bad points listed above. In conclusion, I would say that this is a satisfactory smoke that caused no offence, but didn't really excite me either, so I must gve it only 2 stars. I read that this pouch version had 'the same smoking characteristics' of the tinned version. Looking at all the reviews below, I think that I may have been hoodwinked. I may keep some of this around, but I think that it will be kept for emergencies only, when nothing better is avaliable. Average.

I've been told that in the past this was one of the best spun cut tobaccos available: unfortunately I never tasted some of the old version, but this recent tin (Danish made)was a nice smoke, though not exceptional. The coins are small and not very damp, easy to rub and pack: it's easy to smoke too, so much that I decided to break in a new pipe with it, and enough dry and cool if not rushed. The taste? Well...I've sampled many better VAPER blends but it isn't bad, it just loses flavour going down the bowl, ending with a messy burnt taste: had it kept the flavour till the end it would have deserved a superior rating.

Ah, how does one review such a classic? Well, for me it started by blowing quite a wad of cash on some 10 year old tins, all with perfect seals. Then there was a sunny, yet cool, Sunday afternoon with a good book, dogs under foot, and my porch. I smoked two bowls of this fine blend: The first in a straight Checkmate Jacono dublin that I have dedicated to only Va/P blends and the second in a giant straight Cherrywood Ardor ? a great pipe for anything that contains Va.

Tin aroma: Sweet, musty, figgy, dark, dried or rotting fruit.

Tin appearance: Small to medium sized ?coins? ? These remind me of those in Escudo, though these are smaller and much, much darker.

First Bowl: I fully rubbed out this weed for the first bowl, loaded it and fired it up. Wow, I must say that this is indeed a classic worthy of its reputation. I notice instantly that the back of my throat is starting to tingle, which indicated that there is something powerful in the bowl. The flavor is somewhat more muted than what I had expected, though there was plenty of smoke and a great aroma in the air. The perique is evident and the Va takes the backseat. The bowl smoked all the way down to the heel only during the last five minutes or so becoming bitter and hot.

Second Bowl: In the Ardor, I decided not to rub out the coins, but rather pack them into the bowl and topping off with some crumbs in order to make lighting easier. Once lit, tamped and relit, this weed really starts to sing. Not rubbing out the flakes it the way to go: The flavor is much richer, deeper and the volume of smoke just doesn?t want to quit. I must admit that about half way through this bowl, I noticed that I wasn?t starting to feel well ? I can only attribute this to the strength of this blend.

Conclusions: I feel that to have had such an excellent well aged classic, I am lucky. However, I also feel that there are some modern blends that can hold a flame to this, but only time will tell. Most notably, Solani 633 has very similar burning properties and I suspect will age in a similar way. Aged (3 years plus) Escudo follows this line as well.

I?m glad I bought these tins, and I want to finish the one tin I?ve opened. But as to ?missing? this blend, I don?t. I will get to the other tins, in time, but there is a good chance that 2 or 3 may end up on a reputable auction site.

Extraordinary. IMO Three Nuns is one of the very best blends -regardless of components, one can smoke. Sweet, tasty, complex, slow burning with magnificent flavor that stays with you to the very end. A top favorite blend, that I will cellar as much as I can.

Addendum: Much of the disparity in these reviews is due to two very different tobaccos using the same name. The tinned version is coin-cut, and is simply magnificent. The pouch version is rubbed out and is one of the worst tobaccos ever blended. Many of the poor reviews are of the pouch version, so adjust as needed.

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I won't mince words here. This is probably the best tobacco in current production, the best tobacco that I have ever had. Tobaccos will come and go on "Top 10" lists, but Three Nuns never fails to be at or near the top, year after year. A "coin" form Virginia/Perique mixture, it is smooth and strong, naturally sweet and spicy, complex and straightforward,intensely satisfying. It is not inexpensive, because it can only be purchased from European tobacconists, but I have more of this tobacco in stock than any other. If you haven't tried Three Nuns (the TIN version), you haven't really smoked a VA/P. (2001)

This tobacco was my first venture in the world of VA/Perique and in slices. It took some time before I got the hang of filling my pipe with it. It probably needed some time to dry out a bit too. But it is more than worth the effort of trying. This is a GREAT tobacco. One of my favorites. I particularly like the room note. This is one of the strongest tobacco?s I have in my cabinet. (Along with St. Bruno and Florina Old Semois). IMHO WAY stronger than nighcap! At last an alternative for heavy Latakia blends after a rich dinner. G R E A T!

Bell´s Three Nuns is a famous tobacco among experienced VA/Perique smokers. As I like Virginias very much I gave it a try and ordered a sample from SYNJECO in Switzerland, where the Nuns are a third cheaper than in Germany.

Three Nuns comes as a curly cut in a 50g tin and can be filled either straight from the tin in your pipe disc by disc or rubbed out. Packing is easy and the tobacco lights with the second match to an even burn and leaves only a small amount of grey-white ash in your bowl.

The room note is natural and rather acrid but tolerable to my wife and non-smokers (didn´t hear any complaints).

But it seems I cannot join into the hails, other reviewers gave to the "Nuns". For my palate and tongue, there´s way too much Perique in this blend and even if smoked carefully and slow it is a real hot burner.

Regarding the relatively high price in Germany this will never become an all-day smoke to me and I won´t keep it on stock in my tobacco bar. Among VA/Perique blends I´d always prefer Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls.

3 out of 10 in my personal rating.

I found a round J. B. Russell- stickered tin of this at a state-line cigarette outlet in the closeout discount box (advice for the lovers of this: keep looking). 100g for $3 in Oct. '04. I was leery of the high nicotine reported, so I smoked small bowls at first. Not that bad, but I do get a numb tongue and it ends my smoking for the day. After a dozen tries with this, I agree it's a good benchmark for Va/perique blends. Big and bold, yet civilized. But from this, I deduced that I preferred tobaccos without perique. Occasionally I enjoy it and I'm glad for my opportunity to smoke this classic.

This is a strong tabacco. At first I taste the virgina, but when the tabacco is really burning the perique comes in with a delightfull strongness. It does not bite at all. Only grey and white ashes is what is left. A great tobacco. I love English blends. However not every tobacco-shop here in Holland has it the better shops sell it! Wife rating: "hmm, smells good"!