After deciding that my new Savinelli was breaking in nicely (it has been about the only pipe I have been smoking lately) I decided to fire up one of my new FLN pipes that I got from Floyd Norwood. The Freehand design is absolutely gorgeous, and the grain is top notch. Floyd sells the B Grade briars for dirt cheap because of minor imperfections in the wood, and honestly, the two little dings are so minor that you wouldnt even really know they were there if you werent looking for them. They are fitted with colorful acrylic mouthpieces, and they are a dream to clench. I might actually be kind of spoiled on acrylic now that I have smoked these. As far as smoking qualities go, for the price, they smoke fantastically. The thing that really grabbed me when I looked at them is that these bad boys were bare briar on the inside which is something I dont usually get on pipes that I buy. I loaded the first one with the little bit of Peterson Irish Whiskey I had left and went to town. Very nice draw, very free but still had nice pull and allowed for a perfect pack with just a little resistance, and the smoke was very very low maintenance and low temperature. It did tend to gurgle a bit since it was raw briar on the inside, but it wasnt something a pipe cleaner couldnt take care of. Another thing I love about these pipes is even though the pipes have a slight bend, they pass a cleaner effortlessly. Both pipes have substantial bowls, probably on the upper side of huge, easily a Group 5 in Dunhill terms or maybe even bigger. The briar is substantial and feels solid in the hand, but is light enough to clench and light enough to lead one to believe that the briar is of the highest quality and well aged. The only real complaint I have is that on one of them, the briar rim was carved that the right side of the rim sits up ever so slightly taller than the left, and that little raised bit happens to be exactly where my match or my lighter normally goes, but a little adjustment in lighting technique was an easy enough fix. Bottom line? For the price that Floyd sells these pipes, they are fantastic smokers and look very beautiful, and are of very high quality. Anyone looking for a great briar on a budget should definitely own one or two of these pipes. Kudos to Floyd for a very well made pipe!
