Pipes and Varnish

I think you should leave it alone. I think the risk you take in removing the varnish out ways the advantages you are hoping to get by removing it. To me this theory about painted or heavily varnished pipes is one of the many floating around in the pipe world that have no real science to back it up. Instead it is just another opinion that is passed along as fact.

The pipe IMO has been a good smoker.

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To me this should tell you to leave well enough alone. I have had natural finishes, heavily varnished and painted pipes and to me there was no difference in the smoking quality due to the finish on the OUTSIDE of the pipe.
I got rid of all but one because I prefer a rough exterior. I just didn't like the glass like feel in my hand. The one I kept is a Grabow Omega, that just hands from my mouth. I hardly ever hold it and it smokes wonderfully. IMHO

Just another point. I am sure there is some credence to this theory. However, I think it relates more to the quality of briar used.

I would leave it be unless there are problems. I have a few varnished pipes that have had no issues. I have two Dr. Grabow pipes that experienced bubbling in the varnish. The Lark, was minor and so I left it alone. I also had an Omega, that had more substantial bubbling. I sanded off the finish and was left with a flat red stained look that I liked so much I just rubbed a little wax into it and kept it. I actually like it better now.

I think there is some truth to varnished pipes making a pipe burn hotter, but personally I would leave it unless it's really making the pipe unusable. I find that my varnished pipes naturally lose the varnish over time - partly due I think to the heat exposed to the briar, combined with general handling and the briar "breathing" in the tobacco.

I think there is some truth to varnished pipes making a pipe burn hotter

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I think this is the crux of the issue. My question in response to this is, is it really the finish causing this or is it the quality of the briar? I think most heavily varnished or painted pipes are usually finished that way to cover of the lack of quality grain or to hide poor quality briar. Thus the issue gets associated with being caused by the finish of the pipe. I am not arguing that anyone is wrong. I am just trying to look at it from a different angle.
If you compare this issue to meerschaum pipes. The general thought is that pressed meer will not color or take much longer to color then a high quality block meer pipe. The idea is that a block meer has the natural porosity that a pressed meer block would not. If we painted the outside of a meer pipe in this instance then yes I say the finish would be an issue, but an issue for the eventual coloring of the pipe. Would it really make it smoke hotter? I don't think it would.
Again all this is just for debate and just my opinion.

My question in response to this is, is it really the finish causing this or is it the quality of the briar?

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My opinion is anecdotal, so you could be right. Plus I only have a few varnished pipes, but these do seem to burn hotter than my non-varnished pipes. My Peterson Rosslare Royal came varnished. Peterson claims that only the top 5% of their briar is used for a Rosslare Royal, and from the looks of it, I think the briar itself is fine quality.
But by now it has lost all of its varnish and now it doesn't burn nearly as hot as it used to. If I had to guess, it would seem that the varnish acts like a sealant - preventing the briar to breath, causing the heat no way to escape, so it builds up in the bowl.

Varnish, shellac, etc. don't seal the wood or whatever. They make the outer surface shiny. Even if they did seal up the wood, have you ever smoked a non-shellacked pipe that needed to ooze moisture from the tobacco chamber while you smoked or seen the outer surface of the bowl give off steam?
If you have an Ashton sandblast or a Rad Davis blast or a Radice rusticated, it's shellacked. I don't hear people complaining about those pipes. Many pipe makers just don't talk about what they do to sandblasted and rusticated pipes for fear of incurring the wrath of the "it seals the wood!" crowd.