Bell's Three Nuns ... not the Mac B either!

Hailed as the best VaPer of all time by many. I never tried it, but I do really like Escudo. Maybe I'll find a tin somehow one day.

I'll post my review since I tell my history with the blend. Some may find it interesting.

This first paragraph is reviewing the Orlik VaBur version: The light Virginias give you exactly what they're supposed to: a light, semi-sweet fairly natural taste with a slight sour note. The Kentucky is not too strong and gives it what strength the blend has. It's a near perfect blend of quality tobaccos and for me, is an all day smoke. The coin cut is loose enough that you can easily rub it out or stack them without getting a tight draw. It's very expensive for Americans to get, so you'd really have to like it to pay the high tin and shipping prices.

However, this version is still a pale reflection of the previous blend that had perique instead of Kentucky. Why in the world this reformulation was made, I have no idea. Until the change, this was my all time favorite tobacco and as many know, a very legendary blend. That mixture had more strength and spice with raisin and figs notes, a little more earth, all of which were perfectly balanced to give the smoker great pleasure. Some people say it was not an all day smoke, but for me, it was. There have been several attempts by other companies to replicate this mixture, and all have fallen short of the mark. While I have quite a number of the older version tins stashed away, I sure wish the manufacturer would go back to the previous formula. I'd pay current prices without complaint to stock up if they did. Four stars for the older version. This current version only gets three. I'm just glad I have enough of the old tin version to last me for a few more years.

UPDATE: Oct. 3, 2013: This update is for the recently released MacBaren version. MacBaren licensed the rights to manufacture Three Nuns, and in the summer of 2013, began distributing it to the American market as well as for Europe. I was unhappy to discover they were using the Orlik formulation instead of the VaPer, though I now understand they have to make a VaKy version due to legal reasons. However, I have now been smoking this new variant, and will relate my thoughts on the subject. There are differences between the new production and Orlik's product. The cut coins are a little bigger and more loosely spun. The Kentucky is generally more spread out in the coin rather than centered. The tobacco was fairly dry out of the tin, unlike previous versions, which had a slight moisture to them. The sour taste that was present in the earlier incarnations is very similar, but toned down a bit. The sweetness is very slightly more prominent at times, which possibly comes from how the Kentucky is processed or perhaps there's a very light difference in the topping? This Kentucky is darker, fuller, a little more woodsy, and certainly spicier than what Orlik used, and is superior in every way. In fact, it's the same dark fired Kentucky MacBaren uses in several of their other blends. The Virginia is also darker than what was employed in previously made variants. Essentially, Three Nuns has gone from the original Bell's blend to being a MacBaren manufacture that uses the Orlik recipe with their own tobaccos. The flavor profile is similar, but in a blind taste test, anyone who has smoked any of the previous versions could tell which was which. This is now a full fledged MacBaren product.

How I feel about it now is the main point of this analysis, being that this is a review of the MacBaren Three Nuns. I like it. Very much. It's good fresh out of the tin, and I expect it to age very well if left in these exceptionally sealed tins over the course of time. But smoking it fresh out of the tin will provide you with lots of enticing, satisfying flavors. I spent a fair amount of time comparing this to earlier productions, but judging the MacBaren Three Nuns on own merits - which are considerable - it's most certainly worth your money and time. I'm going to smoke and cellar it. I'm also going to give this new version three stars, which is what I gave to the Orlik non-perique version. I'm keeping the four star rating for the VaPer version, which was made for a hundred years, and deserves that respect.