Mac Baren Three Nuns

Update: 20 June 2013. I just got hold of MacBaren's version of the Tree Nuns. It may not be just as good as the original (it seems there is no Périque in here), but man it's a superlative improvement on the ready-rubbed pouch version. Nice, smooth, luxurious smoke, basically based on Virginia leaf with some Burley and Kentucky in it. It comes in small coins, very easy to load as such or to rub out a little. A nice surprise indeed, recommended to all those who enjoy predominantly Virginian blends.

A few months before a trip that turned out to be a five-year stay in England, a late anthropology professor of mine, and visiting fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge, couched me as to the peculiarities of life in the UK.

When in the midst of our conversation, and after obtaining his permission, I loaded up my pipe with some Prince Albert (one of the few available tobaccos in Mexico at the time), he grimaced, stopped me in my tracks, and produced from his desk drawer a square tin, with a bright orange rim and a dark brown cover that read: Bell?s Three Nuns Tobacco, with the legend ?none nicer?.

Not that he had any objections to the Prince, but, he explained, as I was going off to the Holly Land of pipe tobaccos, I should get acquainted with what he dubbed ?the real stuff?, lest a Cambridge don be aggravated by my Americana-Tobacciana insolence (?and don?t you dare smoke anything the likes of Captain Black at a formal dinner!? he added, with genuine concern).

I had never seen tobacco spun into small coins, nor had I any knowledge of Perique, and was only slightly acquainted with the smell, texture and flavour of straight Virginias. It took me some time to fill in the pipe, and still a longer time to get it going. My professor was patient enough to guide me through the whole process, very much like letting me in on an ancient druid ritual. But once I felt the first nuances from the blend, I was at once elated and transfixed! What an extraordinary encounter! Who needs hermeneutics with this kind of experience!

The same professor would later introduce me to quite an ample range of English tobaccos, from the also bygone Bengal Slices to Dunhills?, Sobranies? Rattrays?, and Presbyterian Mixture.

Three Nuns had, in my view, a pastry-kind of flavour: rich, slightly sugary, toasty and peppery-sweet. Because it was my first attempt at smoking this type of cut, I over puffed and burnt my tongue. Again, the professor came to my rescue and explained the need to smoke slowly, keeping the mouthpiece away from my lips, and drawing in gently.

Perhaps I?m wrong, but I remember the Three Nuns as a gentle, almost mild smoke. It produced a very amicable room aroma, and a soothing sensation to the smoker. Though the Perique was very much in evidence, I now realise that the main feature of the blend were the Virginian varieties: matured, flue cured, probably Old Belt (I don?t think there was any Burley).

Because it was so difficult to ?prepare? I never really smoked it that much. But whenever I did, I always felt the same excitement and contentment. It was a smooth and elegant, yet feisty and gentle pure smoke that, accompanied with a pint of Murphy?s, very much alleviated the harshness of English winters.

This all happened a long time ago. I?m speaking of an almost mythological era, when the Berlin Wall divided Germany and the threat of the Soviet Union was still, for many, very real. But it was also a time when you could smoke almost anywhere?indoors included, especially in pubs?and when Dunhills?, Sobranies? and Benson and Hedges? blends not only existed but also tasted the way they should. A time when you could find proper tobacconists, willing to provide advice and guidance to a humble?and foreign?newbie to the world of pipe smoking (like the late Colin Lunn, just across King?s College).

Alas, all that is gone, and with it the suave gallantry of those Three Nuns, from Scotland.

NB: What today stands for Three Nuns does not deserve a single rating-star

Open the tin and the aroma is beautiful, spicy, nutty, and tells you this is going to be great. The current version of the nuns is cut of small coin shaped discs and long ribbons. The moisture level is too high and drying out is needed. So packing requires a bit of caution and pipe cleaners to open up clogs. Once lit this is one of the great treats of pipe smoking. The blend of Virginias and Perique is unlike the competition, and I think I have tried them all. Flavor is tasty with a zing. Often it is described as peppery, but I don't think so. It is spicy in the way that Perique usually is. So on the posative side this is my favorite Va Perique blend, but the negative side is that it is expensive and can only be obtained from Synjaco in Switzerland making shipping expensive. Everyone deserves the oppertunity to try Three Nuns to know what this blend is like.

This one has made its way into my morning and evening commuting choices for driving. Yes - it's a mess in the tin. There are really no "coins" to speak of. It looks like Three Nuns sharted into the tin 😉 Alright. Alright. That's enough of that. We will just call it "curly cut".

Anyway, it's burley in the center of the rope when it's produced. It's referred to as "Dark Fired Kentucky". The rest of the blend is made up of VAs. All of it is said to be of African origin.

This is a straight down the middle, no surprises mild to medium blend. Burns nice to a fine ash. You can smoke it straight from the tin without worrying about excess moisture. This is one of those blends that you will find yourself reaching for when you don't know exactly what to grab and can work at any time of day. It's pretty much a workhorse and fills those moments when you just want to smoke and not think too much about it.

It is also a nice base to experiment with adding a tad of your own perique or a bit of latakia to if you want to play mad scientist. I give it 4 stars for perfectly filling a slot in my smoking routine. Once upon a time I used to smoke cigarettes and I view Three Nuns as my pipe tobacco equivalent of a cigarette. (Much nicer taste I might add). I highly recommend it for the overall characteristics and utilitarian nature of the smoke.

It contains burleys, virginias and dark fried kentucky. Apparently, the original formulation contained perique this does not and does not need it. There are tobaccos including Three Nuns Green that add perique to this type of mixture. I tried some VaPers like Golden Sliced and Escudo the first I found light and the second heavy but neither were as flavourful or as complex as this. I am probably not a fan of VaPers but I am now a fan of VaBurKents. Will be trying some others in this category,

As mentioned this is not only complex but very flavourful. I almost thought I was smoking an English as only those blends approach the complexity I found in this this blend. My first curly cut absolutely love that cut. Smells great in the tin. Probably among my top 5 tobaccos. 3.75/4

I had three cups of French Press freshly grinned dark roasted coffee and by the Afternoon my sinuses were clear as a crystal. I filled up my Rossi rusticated non filtered Pipe with None Nicer... Three Nuns and the first charing light was a burst of Incencse smelling very pleasant. On second light I started puffing bit hard and that incency smell took over by the sweet Virginia's leafs and I'm having some sweet and leathery feeling as the tin note. This is my second tin and I had smoked in filtered pipes but smoking in non filtered I'm getting totally different taste and some what more enjoyable. Blends of Virginia's and Kentucky are perfect and a very pleasant smoke. I strongly recommend.

NOTE: The four star rating is for the original Bells Three Nuns... read on. This newer mix is pretty good but the vintage tins are otherworldly. However, I did note a similarity in taste to the original Bells Three Nuns on occasion. The quarter size coins rub out easily & burn cool & evenly. They require a little drying time which was not the case with the "old" version & the coins seemed to be smaller "back in the day." The initial tin aroma was a nice, smoke fired tobacco smell with a bit of sour note. One might notice a slight acrid taste initially but after a little is burned off, you will get a little burst of sweet, natural tobacco flavors that meld together fairly well.

Three Nuns has not earned legendary status for no reason & this newer blend works OK for me. As good or better than most blends of this genre. Mac Baren's Three Nuns is strong enough to satisfy and delivers a semi-sweet smoke well above mid strength. It starts tasting pretty good a short while after the charring light to the end... not much waiting for the flavor to develop. It can be smoked right out of the tin if one desires to do so. I'm sure it would be much better with a little age & will cellar some for later consumption. It smokes/burns well all the way to the finish.

There's a lot of tobacco packed in a 50g tin and it is a fairly good value as the leaf is not weighted down with excessive moisture & I haven't noticed any stems thus far. It cost a little more than similar blends. I don't have money to burn but don't mind burning a little of it on this newer version. As the tin states... carefully selected Virginias dominate and are the wrapper leaf of the dark fired Kentucky & Burley. Even though the Perique has been replaced by dark fired KY, I feel that if the original flavor additives of a smidgeon of Ouzo & Brown Sugar were mixed into this new blend it would make a considerable difference in the flavor & might be just as good or very similar to the "Imperial" stuff. I tried adding some blending Perique to a small batch & didn't notice any similarity to the original... it's the magical & precise mixture of ingredients in the casing & the blending technique with two different types of Perique... the regular fermented & some type of burley soaked in the fermented liquid that made J. F. Bell Three Nuns so unique & enticing... a blending process that would be very difficult to reproduce to attain the original flavor.

Anyway, a bowl of this Mac Baren 3 Ns satisfied my Vitamin N "necessity" quite well & I think Mac Baren's Three Nuns merits three & one half stars... still enjoyable to me & that's all that matters. Four stars for the older, original J. F. Bells version & three & one half stars for the Orlik & later Mac Baren versions.

This is about the MacBaren produced version of this tobacco. The tin reveals it was produced in Spring 2016.

I never got to taste the original VA/PER version of this and also not the Orlik. This is the first Three Nuns I got to taste. So I can't compare it to these versions.

Mac Barens Three Nuns is a very delicious and natural smoke. The tin note gives tobacco-ish scents and a hint of Raisins and maybe dried-fruits. My Girlfriend, who doesnt smoke the pipe, smelled the tin and said "oh..it smells like pure tobacco!" It's very mild tin note and doesn't reveal that much of whats expecting you. ElMog's description of "hay and seaweed" is also very apt!

The Coins are adorable and I was lucky to get a tin with almost all Coins being complete and not fallen apart. I just take 3-4 coins for a medium sized bowl, fold them in a ball-like shape and stuff it into my pipe. I love Curly-Cuts! The whole ritual of handling and preparing Curlies, Flakes and Plugs is highly enjoyable to me and adds a lot of joy to my "pipe smoking ceremony".

Once lit you get rewarded a rich tasting smoke. Just a subtle sweetness and dried-fruit, moreso raisin-ish-note lurks through a lot of spicy, hay-ish, and earthy Virginia + Kentucky taste in there. Pure tobacco aroma. I don't know which ingridient does it - but I definetly get a little fruity-aroma in there. Not much, but it reminds me of the fruityness Perique is known for. I know theres none, but theres a fruit taste, reminding me of it.

This tobacco really isn't complex in its ingridients, nor in its taste - but it just works DAMN GOOD! Some may call it "flat" or "dull" - but maybe they were expecting something else? To me the taste is very rich and has a good aroma. Not complex at all, but delicious tho it's easy.

And this is how I imagine how tobacco tasted like decades ago, when I wasnt even born. Straight up spicy and a bit earthy tobacco taste. A gentle sweetness mellows the taste and makes this taste so balanced and good.

Room note described by my Girlfriend: "It smells like spicy tobacco - in a pleasant way!" I guess a non-smoker wouldnt love the smell, but surely tolerate it.

Clearly a 4/4 Stars Blend to me. The price is almost insane! 16,50€ for 50gramm tin. Is it worth it? Yes, To me it is! Are there cheaper alternatives to this? Probably, yea, but a tin every 2-3 month won't kill my budget, so i stick to that delicious, solid smoke.

It's a smoke I can grab anyday - all day. Just good, honest tobacco, that is natural in taste and inviting in appereance.

EDIT: Damn it...I was saying myself "don't let this get a all-day-smoke, it costs 16 bucks dude!"

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fast-forward is me smoking a bowl or two every morning due to it's outstanding and natural taste! 😛 The next tin is already ordered, because I went through the first tin like a BUSHFIRE!

Perique or not - this is as fine as a weed can be!

I'll start by stating that this one of my favourite pipe tobacco blends. Many search for years looking for a tobacco that meets their tastes and preferences perfectly and I feel very fortunate that it took so little time for me to discover Bell's Three Nuns. This review concerns the current (Mac Baren) incarnation of the the blend.

Upon lighting the bowl, one is hit with an initial sweetness which augments and diminishes but stays present throughout the smoke. A little further down the bowl, the blend becomes more robust and the sweetness of the Virginias becomes more of a background note. A Perique-like spiciness, which I'm guessing is offered by the Kentucky, begins to compete with the aforementioned sweetness as the smoke develops more of a body. Overtime, however, the spiciness and the sweetness appear to blend together creating a complex flavour full of nuance.

My advice with Three Nuns would be to smoke it slowly so as to gain as much from the natural sweetness of the tobaccos as one can. The blend is full of flavour but not overpoweringly strong and whilst the nicotine is noticeable, it never threatens to have too much of a presence. This tobacco is an enjoyably complex and thought-provoking smoke.

Note: Since writing my original review, I feel that I should add that this tobacco dramatically improves having been cellared for a year or more. If smoked new, this tobacco doesn't burn with all of the characteristics that make it one of my favourite smokes. I would urge anybody interested in smoking Three Nuns to age the tobacco before unsealing the tin.

First Kentucky I've tried and I must say it's not as strong as I thought it would be, at least at first light. After 20 puffs or so you start to get a little more peppery umph. Three Nuns has a nice, full flavor or at least it felt that way for me since I was smoking some EMP before this. The smell is wonderful and I could see nonsmokers finding it pleasant as well. I really dig the cut of the tobacco, though it does take a little more time to prepare a bowl. Overall, a great smoke that will leave you craving more (in my case at least), especially if you happen to be Catholic!