Three Nuns Tin Variations

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There seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding the different iterations of Three Nuns. I'm no help but that much I know. :lol:
 
Mine came in from Germany and are all Horizontal or flat..... Ditto what ken said, best ask Dock!!
 
I think (and this is just a guess, as I gave away or smoked all my 3 Nuns quite a while ago and never paid much attention to the tins when they were plentiful) is the horizontal tin is the older "imported to the US" tin and the vertical is the more current "only in Europe" tin. But perhaps more knowledgeable heads will come forth?

Dock, you out there?

Natch
 
The question is not so naive and it really does determine the blend inside.

The second pic is definitely modern Orlik production (Denmark).

It's the first tin pic that is interesting. The tin colours, shape, and, especially, the Euro 'e' symbol (package weight tolerance standard) suggest that the tin dates to the 80's or early 90's. Too bad you haven't got a pic of the tin lid edge. That would indicate whether it was Made in England or Made in Denmark. It could be either BAT (British American Tobacco) or Orlik production in that range of dates. I think it's unlikely to be Imperial Tobacco production because Imperial tins look a little different than that and they were labeled "Made in Scotland" in the 80's. It was also in the latter 80's that Imperial Tobacco closed the Glasgow plant too as part of their modernization efforts (that wasn't good for the blends!). BAT manufactured the Imperial brands in Liverpool for export, outside the UK, until 1990 when BAT outsourced manufacturing to Orlik.
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/qym25a99/pdf

So it's tough to peg that first one but BAT or an early 90's Orlik tin.
 
Rusty":vm0xk67z said:
The question is not so naive and it really does determine the blend inside ...
Click to expand...
...and Rusty finally branches out from the CPS forum; welcome, brother, welcome!

I dearly hope this is but the first of many, many informative posts to come.
 
Fireman":uwiz2slt said:
When was the switch from the coin cut to the ready rubbed version ? Is the coin cut still made for the EU market?
Thanks Lance
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Fireman, My three nuns came in over January from Germany, they are coins.
 
Fireman":vuljy3kk said:
When was the switch from the coin cut to the ready rubbed version ? Is the coin cut still made for the EU market?
Thanks Lance
Click to expand...
The current Orlik tinned Three Nuns is in coins. The current Imperial UK domestic product is ready rub. Neither is anything like Three Nuns of the 80's and earlier but the coin at least looks right. The Ready Rub is really pitiful stuff. Friends brought me back a pouch from England and I thought it was so bad that I wondered if it would be better to have it bronzed as a symbol of how the mighty have fallen. Truth in tobacco is only enamel deep with many of these old icons ie we can enjoy the tin or pouch but the contents are nothing like Three Nuns.

This is a good example of multiple versions coexisting in distinct markets because of split TM's (ie TM ownership or licensing covering different regions). In this case I'm pretty sure that Orlik has been licensed by Imperial to produce & sell the tinned coin version for specific European countries only. The UK sales region has always been Imperial Tobacco's.

I think Gawith Hoggarth's Curly Cut Regular is somewhat reminiscent of the Va's in the Three Nuns of old. It's no duplicate, it too is missing Perique, but the little coins unravel the same way the old Three Nuns used to and the flavour has a richness (though again without the Three Nuns toppings) that is closer than anything else I've found. And any current production with Three Nuns on the package requires far too much imagination to conjure Three Nuns and overcome the experience of the tobacco. It would be an improvement if they sold them empty and let us fill them with our own choices. I would load mine with GH Curly Cut.

Here's a 1971 BAT recipe for Three Nuns from the Legacy Library. Those of you that want to believe the myth that the Brits didn't case, top, & colour their blends should avert your eyes.
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/evl27a99/pdf
 
Kapnismologist":kkj175rg said:
Rusty":kkj175rg said:
The question is not so naive and it really does determine the blend inside ...
Click to expand...
...and Rusty finally branches out from the CPS forum; welcome, brother, welcome!

I dearly hope this is but the first of many, many informative posts to come.
Click to expand...
I was waiting for the wealth of knowledge to make its way over here :D Nice to see you Rusty.
 
From what Rusty writes the only version of 3Nuns I've smoked was manufactured by Orlik; I bought it from Synjeco. I truly, truly, loved it.

I take it that Orlik is still producing the blend, but those tins I bought in the early 2000s were a far cry from the dreck I purchased in ~2003. This is confusing.

At any rate, how does current Orlik production stand up? What I got in 2003 was bright VA coin without Perique.
 
The Egyptian National Tobacco Monopoly, known as The Eastern Co. SAE, produces (under license) a Three Nuns version which is quite authentic-tasting.
 
Eulenburg":x4zjugmy said:
The Egyptian National Tobacco Monopoly, known as The Eastern Co. SAE, produces (under license) a Three Nuns version which is quite authentic-tasting.
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Can it be purchased online? Do you have a link?

I've been smoking from my one and only tin of Three Nuns just recently opened, and really enjoying it. Its a vertical tin but with painted lid. Made in Denmark for Imperial.
 
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