Meerschaum pipes are great, and worth having, if only as a change of pace. I have found that each type of pipe has its own smoking characteristics (briar, cob, clay, cherrywood). Meerschaum seems to impart a creamy, clean quality to the smoke. Very dry, cool and sweet, I have never had a meer gurgle, either.
Over time as the pipe is “seasoned”, the meerschaum works its magic, and turns the absorbed oils, moisture, and nasty stuff into fragrance and concentrates the flavor of the pipe. I am mostly a Va/Per smoker and have tried an experiment of only smoking one type of tobacco in a meer, and the flavor gets more and more focused. My Va/Per meer has picked up the tangy, spicy, sweetness, and the pipe itself smells so good! My English blend pipe makes latakia creamy and complex tasting. I also have an estate pipe that was used to smoke only aromatics, and that pipe has the aromatic smell and taste to it, which I don’t think will ever go away.
I have a Strambach cultured meerschaum pipe from the 70’s, that smokes nice, but isn’t as absorbent as mined meerschaum, and doesn’t have the same smoking and coloring characteristics of natural meerschaum, in my opinion.
Meerschaum is fragile, but really the maintenance is not that different from other pipes. Run a pipe cleaner through after every smoke, and only take apart to do a deep cleaning if the pipe starts to taste sour. Just clean the stem with alcohol until a pipe cleaner comes out clean. I don’t think it is necessary to clean the bowl with anything because the meer absorbs the nasty tobacco juice and makes it taste good and fragrant. Just following my intuition, putting alcohol in a meer just doesn’t seem good for the pipe, unless maybe you have a really nasty estate pipe.
I have found that a little cake seems to help the pipe smoke better. You don’t have to go crazy (or you can) with cleaning, reaming, or waxing, just smoke the pipe. I personally don’t like to touch the bowl itself too often and hold the pipe by the stem because the meerschaum absorbs the oils and dirt from your hands.
I have had good luck finding meers on craigslist, they usually sit for a long time and you can talk the seller down if you wait. Plus, you get to see the pipe in person. When you hold a real block meerschaum bowl it should feel porous and your fingers should stick slightly, I also think it is important that a pipe be able to pass a pipe cleaner without taking the stem off. I have found if I have to take the stem off after every smoke, the pipe is more likely to break or get a loose connection, over time.
Happy hunting!