Pipe Quality

[TigerTom]

I was doing some searching around to find information about the Drucquer blends (specifically 805) and found this thread on Brothers of Briar:

Drucquer's

July 6, 2013 As promised, I will now post the last part of the letter that was written by Robert Rex, who owned Drucquer's tobacco shop in Berkeley, CA from 1964-1982 and employed his background as a chemist and a researcher to develop some of the best, and still most sought after, blends...

www.brothersofbriar.com

Something that stood out was this paragraph from a letter written by Robert Rex, contained in the first post:

"By the end of the 70’s the traditional processing by the tobacco by most suppliers was almost a thing of the past, with the exception of very few small tobacco factories and tobacconists around the world. With the advent of highly flavored pipe tobacco the necessity of a pipe made from properly aged briar also became less important because the high sugar in the tobacco covered the harshness of green wood. That’s a whole other story as I also started having pipes made for us because the pipes being sold were going down hill in quality."

I know almost if not all commercially sold blends have some sort of casing to cover up harsh flavors. I never considered the harshness might be coming from the pipes themselves. Could this issue be related mostly to "drugstore" and other lower priced pipes? Or perhaps some of the higher grades as well?

 

[deluxestogie]

(I used to shop at Drucquer's, when I lived in Berkeley, CA.) My impression is that highly flavored, commercial pipe tobacco dates back to the 19th century or earlier. For a time, British law required tobacco to contain no "adulterants"—hence "English", non-aromatic tobacco. Although my pipe experience dates back to only 1970, I suspect that only the "drug store" pipes sometimes used the cheapest available briar. As with any wood used for whittling, it will promptly split radially if it has not yet fully cured prior to carving.

Bob

 

[ShiniKoroshi]

I know almost if not all commercially sold blends have some sort of casing to cover up harsh flavors. I never considered the harshness might be coming from the pipes themselves. Could this issue be related mostly to "drugstore" and other lower priced pipes? Or perhaps some of the higher grades as well?

I think sour pipes are caused by commercial tobacco. I can get two or three smokes in a day from a briar pipe before detecting a sourness. Not so with my whole leaf blends.

Im about 9 weeks into a Hard Maple torture test. Smoked daily, 4 to 8 bowls a day and only wiped dry between smokes and the occasional reaming. Im surprised by not only how well the Maple is holding up but also how clean the bowl smells. Latakia and Deerstongue will leave a trace scent that is gone the next bowl. Nothing special really about the Maple its just the lack of PG and chemical flavorings.

 

[TigerTom]

Very interesting. I don't usually smoke more than one bowl in any given day out of any given pipe so I've never run into the issue of a souring pipe. I got the impression from the original quote that it wasn't so much a pipe going sour but instead the wood itself being improperly cured or perhaps cured less than it could have been - poor quality wood giving a poor flavor. The quote seemed plausible simply because burnt tree sap does taste pretty bad (anyone who's ever cooked over a fire fueled by green wood knows what I mean). It caught my attention because it seems to jive with some of the statements made by Richard Carleton Hacker, describing pipe makers who had claimed to use 100-year-old wood, or, in the case of Dunhill, using burls from trees that have died (the "Dead Root" line) - the most aged wood making the best pipes was the logic.

I'm interested in how the Hard Maple Torture Test turns out. I'd bet properly stained and polished maple would be beautiful in a pipe.

[Edited to correct a typo.]

 

[ShiniKoroshi]

Tobacco marketing at its finest!

Here is the process from tree to (mostly) dried blocks, A CUT ABOVE BRIAR. Other cutters share pretty much the same story.

Imagine all that work to produce clean wood for someone to go and stain the inside of the bowl.

Ill post an update on the Maple if I get a burn-through. I didn't expect it to last this long because I goofed and have the grain running front to back which makes two opposing sections of the bowl extremely hot.

 

[TigerTom]

Romeo Briar (Mimmo) posts pretty much the same process. Apparently it's fairly dangerous work, and missing fingers among briar cutters isn't uncommon.

I'm not a fan of stains inside the bowl, and I don't like the "pre-cake" some manufacturers apply. I always feel like they're hiding something when I see that. My first pipe (a Savinelli) had that coating and the reasoning sounded plausible. After learning about putty fills and wood imperfections, I try to avoid it.

 

[ShiniKoroshi]

Romeo Briar (Mimmo) posts pretty much the same process. Apparently it's fairly dangerous work, and missing fingers among briar cutters isn't uncommon.

I'm not a fan of stains inside the bowl, and I don't like the "pre-cake" some manufacturers apply. I always feel like they're hiding something when I see that. My first pipe (a Savinelli) had that coating and the reasoning sounded plausible. After learning about putty fills and wood imperfections, I try to avoid it.

They are hiding something, the natural "blemishes" that are intrinsic to burl wood. The PIMO pipe crafting book mentions this and I second their opinion in leaving blemishes as they add character to the finished piece.

With any luck I will drill these out today.

From the left....
Hard Maple
Goncalo Alves
Leopardwood
Briar

 

[TigerTom]

I'm sure those will turn out great!

 

[ShiniKoroshi]

There is always a exception though this pipe shouldn't have made it past QC. French made in the 50's and it smokes just fine (though I did get a refund).