Rattray 3 Noggins

(2.41)
A tobacco with all the fragrant properties of 7 Reserve, but a little more full in body was what a customer sought, and in time 3 Noggins evolved.

Details

Brand Rattray
Blended By Kohlhase, Kopp und Co. KG
Manufactured By  
Blend Type Scottish
Contents Black Cavendish, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 100 grams tin
Country Germany
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

2.41 / 4
7

14

16

9

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 11 of 46 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 21, 2011 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
2008 tin, smoked in 2011

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.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 26, 2014 Mild to Medium Extremely Mild Medium Tolerable
The Virginias are mildly citrusy with some grass, and small amount of dark fruit and earth as the lead components. The smoky, woody, earthy, floral, dry, sour and spicy Oriental offers a little "oompf" as a supporting player. The smoky, woody, earthy, musty sweet Cyprian Latakia is a secondary star. The black cavendish adds a light sugar sweetness as a condiment. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is just past the center of mild to medium. Won't bite, and doesn't get harsh. Has few rough edges. Burns at a moderate pace, cool and clean with a very consistent sweet and sour, savory flavor. Has a short lived after taste with a slight bitter note. Requires few relights, and leaves little moisture in the bowl. More of a two and half star blend.

-JimInks
18 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 17, 2013 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
For me Rattray's blends are very much hit or miss with not a lot of grey area in-between. I really like the flakes as well as Red Rapparee and Black Mallory, but there is that group of blends in the middle like Accountants, Brown Clunee and No. 7 Reserve that I find to be just too bland. 3 Noggins falls into that group for me too. It's not a bad blend, but just not very interesting. It's a light English blend although some may call it a light Scottish blend, but either way there are just better options in both departments. On the plus side, on a whim, I bought a tin from the 1990's (was there a different blender between Rattray and K&K??) and time in the tin really improved this blend quite a bit. 3 Noggins had really sweetened up for me and tin note was wonderful, and the flavor was great. The question is…is it worth shelling out some bucks to wait 15 years for improvement? I think not.
14 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 24, 2013 Medium Extremely Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
It's been just over a year since I reviewed my last sampling of Rattrays offerings and, having been distinctly unimpressed by it, I have been reticent about venturing back into their fold. However, after getting a couple of extra shifts at work and a bit of a bumper pay packet, I thought I would dip my toe back into the pond as it were and treated myself to a 100g tin of this stuff, mainly picking it out due to the latakia in it. I am only half way through the tin but, having had it for over six weeks, I have decided to get my experiences in now while they're still fresh.

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.
13 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 07, 2016 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant
A ramped up version of several other Rattray's blends, 3 Noggins has strength from the Virginia, backbone from the unflavored Cavendish, heady flavor from the Latakia and subtly spicy sweetness from the Orientals. It is a favorite among those who enjoy the Rattray's Latakia range - much fuller than Black Mallory and more Latakia than Red Rapparee.

Pipestud
12 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 25, 2016 Mild None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
I haven't smoked many Rattray tobaccos but the ones I've smoked I really enjoy. I'm a huge fan of Bagpipers dream so to dive into Rattrays non aromatics I had to grab a tin of 3 Noggins to start it off.

When you open the tin it's surprisingly fruity and sweet. Not what I was expecting in an English blend but I love it. I immediately get a ton of fig and nuttiness with some strawberry preserves and subtle apple. Moisture wise, it's perfect for me. I like my tobaccos a little more moist than most people so thats nice for me but most may want to let it dry for 5 to 10 minutes.

Lighting it up is easy and effortless. Starts right up and gets rolling. It puts off a fair amount of smoke with very little to almost no tongue bite. It's really tasty in my opinion! In the smoke I get a lot of fig again and walnut with a slight spice. It's sweet though with subtle strawberry and it keeps my mouth watering. Very pleasant for my taste. If you enjoy natural sweetness in tobaccos then this one you'll like. The room note is nice also. I really enjoy it and will occasionally hold my bowl at my chin and wave it to smell the smoke off the bowl. It's really nice.

I would totally give this a try if you haven't! It's definitely lacking some latakia but not in a bad way at all. It actually makes this blend stand out among English blends for me. I definitely recommend to any smoker.
Pipe Used: Neerup straight apple
PurchasedFrom: Smoking pipes
Age When Smoked: Fresh
9 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 21, 2010 Mild None Detected Mild Pleasant
This review is based on about 2 oz - half a tin. Upon opening the tin, the heavily pungent aroma of quality orientals assailed my nostrils. Light on the latakia but more heavy of body, due to the unflavored cavendish. I found this much tastier than 7 Reserve but muted in comparison to Jocks or Highland Targe, and certainly more so than Red Rap or Black Mallory. I enjoyed this but not sure where it fits into my rotation or even the Rattrays stable.

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.
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 28, 2002 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
This is the blend that fills the gap between 7 Reserve (too light for some, and Red Raparee (too heavy for an all day smoke). It is listed as a Full tobacco, but that seems to be a historical reference to nicotine content. I did not find it particularly strong in nicotine. The blend is nicely vareigated in color, mostly short to medium ribbon cut, with a well balanced English/Oriental aroma. It lights well (after airing out), and remains lit well. The initial flavor is well balanced between the Va base and the condiments. The Turkish provides a moderately spicy taste, and the Latakia is neither too faint, nor too bold. Kudos to K & C for staying so close to the spirit of the original Scottish blend. If you ae looking for something just a bit lighter than Red Raparee, this may be the perfect choice.
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 08, 2016 Mild to Medium Extremely Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Questions questions, questions. What is meat by "noggins"? Why three of them? What does the notation "full" on the label and "full English mixture" on the bottom of the can imply? Noggins is a slang term for head and also a small cup. Is one of these or something else meant? What does three signify? And why is this mild to medium blend characterized as full?

Rattray's 3 noggins is a mixture of Virginia, oriental, latakia, and unflavored cavendish. Open the tin and you get an aroma of Virginia and oriental. The latakia does not show up in the initial sniff. The cut is ribbon, and the moisture level just slightly high, but a tad better than most tinned tobaccos.

Lighting presents no problem, and the ribbon cut offers no challenge in keeping the light going. The Virginias are probably red, there is sweetness there. The orientals provide a spicy undertone. Yes, the latakia is there when you smoke it, but it is at a level well under medium. The unflavored cavendish (and this is what many would characterize as a Scottish mixture because of its inclusion) beefs up and rounds out the body.

The room note does not offer so strong an odor of dirty gym socks as do blends with a heftier latakia component. People will not brag on the room note, but this is not an offering which will engender many protests from non smokers.

In the Rattray lineup this is a stronger tobacco than offerings such as Seven Reserve and Professional Mixture (which have just a whiff of oriental and latakia), but notably less full than Red Rapparee. Actually it may have as much latakia as RR, but the oriental/latakia backbone of Red Rapparee is much more Balkan oriented.

Full English mixture? Three Noggins does not have the heft to qualify if that implies a dominant oriental/latakia mix. Or does that suggest a robust nicotine presence? There is nicotine there, but I would rate it a little shy of medium. So does the full English notation refer to the preparation? MacBarens H.H. Old Dark Fired characterizes itself as English because of the steam processing by which the tobacco is darkened. But 3 Noggins is light in color aside from the strands of latakia.

By and large, latakia lovers will find this OK so long as the yen of the moment is not for a full flavor. Those who normally puff English tobaccos (especially if they like oriental in it) will find this an acceptable smoke. Burley lovers may rate the flavor of 3 Noggins as a bit too bland, but I doubt they will have difficulty finishing off a tin of it. Aromatic smokers will mark this off the list.

Personally I rather enjoy smoking 3 Noggins. The mild to medium flavor is not overly complex, but when you pay attention to the smoking you will note some interesting nuances. I give only two stars "somewhat recommended" not because of anything that is wrong with 3 Noggins, but because for a fairly pricey offering it does not have the oomph to rate an unrestrained recommendation.

This tobacco does not have a high bowl ghosting factor. I smoke it in a variety of pipes and have not experienced any ghosting problems.
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 21, 2018 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium Pleasant
Rattray - 3 Noggins.

One of my reviews from some years ago I deleted as it didn't read well. New tin, repost!

A fairly coarse mixture, ribbons and some broken flake. The lesser of the ingredients is the black Cavendish, there's only about 15% in the tin. Moisture's good when fresh.

Easily lit and burns well. From the Latakia I get a mild smokiness, but it isn't a heady flavour; no 'Lat-Bomb' here. The Orientals work slightly bizarrely, at first they don't seem too bad, but develop more of a sourness as the bowl burns. The Virginia/black Cavendish give a gentle sweetness, and slightly subdue the Oriental piquancy. It has a cool temperature and doesn't bite. In build the smoke isn't that heavy, so it doesn't cloud the room with smog; alright in winter when you can't have open windows!

Nicotine: medium to strong. Room-note: pleasant.

The first quarter's far better than the latter part. The Orientals taint the enjoyment. Two stars:

Somewhat recommended.
Pipe Used: Altinok Meerschaum
PurchasedFrom: My Smoking Shop
Age When Smoked: One month
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 15, 2022 Mild None Detected Medium Tolerable
This was a pleasant english and it really suited the warm weather in which I got to experience it. I tend to not like latakia blends in the summer, but the lat presence is light in this one as it seems to be led by a variety of oriental leaves. They add a nice sour citrus taste that is only slightly bitter.

Otherwise the orientals rest against some a base of virginia and cavendish that is nicely sweet harkening flavors mostly associated with bright virginias yet tempered with the cavendish to allow one to puff a little heavier than necessary without any oral discomfort. The latakia is but a whisper in the background and this blend is only slightly smokey. I seldom smoke in the morning anymore, but I would speculate that this would go great with some coffee as a first smoke of the day as it tends to be that kind of blend.

There is nothing negative I can say about the presentation or quality of the product. It is typical Rattray product, Classy and Tasty.

I recommend this blend to anyone, in particular, who enjoys blends such as Squadron Leader or EMP. Good stuff; I am glad I have more cellared.
Age When Smoked: 7yrs 6mths
4 people found this review helpful.
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