Mac Baren Three Nuns

This review is for the Bell's Three Nuns, dated 2003. I smoked a few of these when purchased originally, and really liked them. Great burn, taste, everything. Stashed one tin and just popped it for the new year (so long 2020). Still very good, but didn't age near as well as many of the other tins I have stashed and smoked. Really like the disks for smoking though.

Mac Baren - Three Nuns Nice tobacco aroma appears from tin after opening. I did not notice any casing. Damaged coins could have been little moister. There are sweetness, nuts and something what I can called typical tobacco. When all cigarettes will have this aroma and taste, there would not be any deeming restrictions. However, please do not be confused. This is not tobacco to smoke it inside.

Even coins was relatively dry, they left some moisture. No relights was needed. Pleasant tobacco

This is for the Mac Baren version. I got myself 5 tins from Ebay for about 12$ a tin dated Feb 2014 ! 5 yrs old . No sugar crystals. The smell of the tin was fermented fruit which must be from the Virginias ? Taste was not fruity but slightly baked bread and slightly nutty but more spicy from the Kentucky. Not sweet at all for me . Not sure what Brazilian adds . Very mild smoke IMO . I think one could smoke this all day long no problem. Dried it for about half hour but is probably ok right from tin . Decent smoke but very mild even for me. Not sure what the aging improved this if at all . The Virginia tobacco could be better probably.

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I bumped this up to 3 Stars as it makes a great mixer to straight VA blends adding spice and body and flavor of the Kentucky!

The tin notes are honey, hay and cigar. I say honey notes, but it's really more than a note, it's so strong, it's hard to ignore.

The coins are about an inch in diameter and a little difficult to separate.

On the first light, I get notes of toasted marshmallow.

After a few minutes of rest, the bowl smells of sauteed spinach. Now I'm hungry.

Upon relight, many things come to light. The flavor bring back all the notes described above and more. The room note is very masculine, the smoke sometimes reminds me of old school men's cologne

I like this - I've never smoked the original from bygone years so I can't compare this new version with that, but all I can say is I quite like this. Smoke it slowly to really get the taste, and I think you'll enjoy it too. I got the ready rubbed version and a well packed pipe burns really well, sip it rather than puff to get a faint raisin and whiskey taste. It's incredibly smooth and I think bite in unlikely with this one. There's a sweetness here - anyway it's a pretty decent smoke in my opinion.

Small thin coins (approx dime sized diameter, and dime sized thickness) squashed into the tin and mixed with some loose ribbon.

It's dry and loose enough, so I didn't feel the need to rub this one out. Just squashed some into a pipe until it felt right. The tin note had some interesting fruity notes, but that doesn't carry into the smoke, at least for me. The first thing I notice in this one is earthy tobacco - that's the dark fired Kentucky. There's a spice component that makes me think of perique, but supposedly there isn't any perique in this??? It seems a little busy at first, but starts to meld nicely past the halfway point of this smallish pipe - maybe it will perform better in a bigger bowl? Burn is very good with just a "stuff the pipe right out of the tin."

All in all, it's a pretty good smoke that I think will continue to improve with more cellar time (this sample is 1 year old).

I got this be I'm liking different cuts of tobacco lately. It sounds like it should be a pretty strong flavor too.

The cut is little thin coins that rub out very easily. Easily packed and lit after a few charring lights. The tin note is strong, but pleasant. Smells strongly of dark fired tobacco. The flavor is strong, the dark fired comes through fully. It has a spicy flavor to it that reminds me of perique, although there is none. Takes a few delights for me to get through the bowl.

All in all, I like this one. Really tasty blend that is easy to smoke, but you definitely notice your smoking it. It reminds me of the Acadian perique mixture from macbaren. The dark fired is the same flavor in it at least. Decent nic content to it. Good quality leaf used too. I would recommend this one to anybody who likes a bolder flavored tobacco, maybe with a good strong cup of coffee.

I recommend this blend because it's an important piece for the pipe smoking history and because it's not bad at all. for a round sliced flake with Dark Fired Kentucky and Virginias, it's one that you should at least try. You won't hate it, but it is good, especially if you are a cigar guy. Maybe it was better back in the old days, but it's pretty good now. There are better blends, but there are people who love this stuff as it is now. Some people really, really love it. That's how good it is.

Three nuns smells a bit sweet in the bag with a fruity note. Odd that - I really didn't expect it at all. I like VAs, but I've not had a lot of luck getting attached to Kentucky blends. But Three Nuns is an exception .

It packed and lit VERY easily - and set to it.

Oh my. Raisin, tobacco, a bit of pepper on the retrohale - even a slight sourness that I associate with Orientals - was all there for the taking. The smoke wasn't overly thick after the initial burn, but it burned easily and evenly through the bowl with no relights. Light flavors, easy smoking, even and cool burn. Three Nuns is nice companion - a good start and mid-day smoke

I can't speak to the different blends and all the other controversy, but I can give a review of the MacBaren version of this blend....and I digress.

The coins of this tobacco in the tin are a bit more loose and therefore not as finely spun together as escudo/bullseye flake. From the tin notes of hay and a bit of tangy fruit. I didn't smell perique in the blend, no pepper or plum.

Packs and lights easily. Tobacco seems a tad on the dry side from the tin and burned a bit hot and fast at times. Flavors of hayish sweetness with hints of pepper and spice are present throughout the smoke. It's not extremely flavorful, but it's a decent blend. I prefer my bullseye or escudo though to this blend and perhaps that's because I enjoy VaPers quite a bit.

Still, this blend is worth a try and some may find a favorite all day smoke.