Brigham U.S.A. Opens for Business
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Kevin Godbee - Feb 9, 2011
- 4 min read
If you haven’t seen a Brigham Pipe before, you will soon. Their new U.S.A. launch is just around the corner. Many people know and cherish Brigham Pipes as they’ve been around for over 100 years. However, they have been difficult to find at U.S. retailers.
Brigham’s past availability in the U.S. market has been spotty for years; creating shortages, higher prices, and frustrated consumers.
By the Spring of this year, those problems will be solved. It will be much easier for U.S. customers to obtain a Brigham Pipe, and to obtain it at an affordable price.
Brigham’s U.S.A. Headquarters has just opened in the heart of America’s pipe tobacco capital in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. Heading up the operation is 15-year industry veteran Brian Levine.
Mr. Levine is well-known both within the industry and by consumers alike. His friendly, witty personality, along with his encyclopedic knowledge of pipes and tobaccos has established him as an industry expert. He is well-liked and respected by many in the business.
His résumé includes working for Alfred Dunhill, Hollco-Rohr, IPCPR, Villiger-Stokkebye International, and most recently he was the General Manager of SmokingPipes.com.
A national sales force has just been established, and the first shipments of Brigham Pipes are in transit from Canada. The entire product line will be warehoused and shipped to retailers from the new U.S.A. headquarters. A substantial inventory will be maintained to allow for fast shipments to retailers without the hassle of having to go through Customs. All of the pipes will go through a secondary QC inspection here in the United States to make sure no problems have occurred while in transit from the factory.
Brigham Pipes are unique with their own special cooling system. They are also beautifully designed, of high quality and moderately priced, making them desirable and affordable by most pipe smokers.
The Brigham system consists of a Maple dowel, which is hollowed out to be a tube inserted into the pipe. It doubles as a cooling filter, and the Tenon of the pipe. This design allows for a continuous airflow from the draft hole to the lip.
The diameter is precisely maintained, and there are only miniscule tolerances inside the mortise because of the maple tube. The Rock Maple filter draws out the moisture and cools the smoke.
Brian Levine states; “By the time the smoke travels through the stem to the smoker’s mouth, it is transformed into a cool, softened flavor. The issue of the gap between the tenon and mortise is completely negated by our continuous flow system. No gap means no gurgle, and a cooler and more consistent smoke. The draft hole is 3.5 millimeters, and it narrows slightly at the button. It is rare to find a pipe at this price with those specifications.”
“With the Brigham system, the smoker can use a pipe cleaner anytime they want. It’s the easiest pipe to get a pipe cleaner through. Other pipes with filters, balsa systems, and other “system pipes” make it difficult to get a pipe cleaner through. Our hollow filter which maintains the same diameter throughout enables a pipe cleaner to easily slide right through.”
“The Rock Maple filter also helps keep the shank and stem clean, so we have the easiest pipe to clean.”
Each pipe comes with one filter, and replacement boxes of 8 filters can be purchased separately. The price range of most Brigham pipes is very reasonable at $60 – $110. There will be some special edition pipes that will go up to $180.
Below are three different finishes on the #84 shape. There are about a dozen different shapes and seven different finishes available which can be seen on the Brigham Pipes Website. [Note: The website is in the process of being re-designed and updated. The old site is up as of this writing, but still has much good information.]
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Mr. Levine suggests that the Brigham pipes are a great pipe to taste test different tobacco blends. They are also a pipe you can smoke all day without it getting wet inside. “It’s a good starter pipe for people that might not know how to pack a bowl yet as it cuts down on tongue bite dramatically.”
In addition to Brigham Pipes, there will also be accessories, gifts and cigars. Later in the year, the Brigham Pipe Tobaccos will also become available.(The tobaccos are last on the list because of the myriad U.S. regulations concerning the distribution and taxation of tobacco.)
Retailers interested in stocking Brigham Pipes can contact:
Brian Levine
Brigham USA
40 Odell School Rd #19
Concord, NC 28027
brian@brigham1906.com
Direct: 704-817-3910
Customer Service: 800-668-0628
Brigham Pipes will be on display at the following pipe shows this year: Raleigh, Chicago, Kansas City, Columbus, Richmond, and Las Vegas.
Company website: http://brighampipes.com/
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Well there’s nothing like a touch of the plague to usher in the changing season. Leaving the airport just when the first advertisements for all things pumpkin spice began to appear—lattes, muffins, shampoos, trash bags, and myriad other concoctions—so, too, my ability to breathe freely disappeared. The unfortunate side effect of losing one’s sense of taste and smell for weeks is the utter inability to enjoy tobacco. Not that I consider myself an expert on anything but my own tastes, but be forewarned that this review was made with mildly impugned sensory equipment. Just when a comforting pipe was most needed, its comfort was denied. Be that as it may, the road to recovery found me limping along on one lung this past month, trying to wrest the particulars of two blends on offer from Sutliff: the latest 175th Anniversary blend, Silver Quarter, as well as their spooky seasonal Maple Shadows II. Silver Quarter is a new style on offer from Sutliff, their first coin-cut blend. 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Yes, we always need more US made products. Especially one located nearby. (Charlotte area) I look forward to find a dealer nearby.
Great news!
As a Canadian pipe smoker I have a range of Brighams in my rotation, and they hold their own with my other pipes which range from Dunnies to Petersons, etc. Not a bad smoker among the lot.
About the filters, for those of you who have a prejudice against filter systems. The filters are not only not an obstruction to the air flow, and yes they will pass a pipe cleaner, but they are washable! Even reccomended to wash them by Brigham, and then re-use! I save them up and giove them a two step, a shaking in a small bottle with alcohol and short soak, then a rinse with water and air dry. I don’t recommend a prolonged water soak, as I have had the wood split after forgetting them in the water for a couple of days (oops).
the pipes are no longer being manufactured in Canada, but made to Brigham’s standards in Italy, just as Dunhill has moved their manufacturing back to France (where they were originally made for Alfred D.). All a matter of economics, not one of quality, or so I understand.
Be sure to look for the tinned tobaccos they sell, we are assured that they are identical to a certain revived label in the US, and at least in Canada are more “affordable”. You won’t have any doubt about what they are as the tin art leaves no room for confusion, and they are reputed to come off the same line at Orlik and made to the same recipe’s.
Enjoy,
Al (in Canada)
I’ve owned Brighams since 1968 when I bought my first one while at college. They’re as great now as they have ever been and are excellent smokers. BEST WISHES to the new USA Distributorship!!
Sandy Gerli
Durham NC
I’m definitely interested in getting some. I’m not sure I understand, at this point, how to do it.
Do I order through the Concord, NC, site or do I find a dealer through the Brigham web site and order on-line through them.
Inquiring minds want to know. . .
I look forward to trying one of these. I am an aromatic smoker and am very fond of the Savinelli balsa system (pipe elitists be damned). I like the shapes depicted above, too.
gwpegasus:
I would suggest the US site or dealer.
a) you avoid the hassle of customs, who even if they aren’t going to charge you any duty, they still have to make your life miserable on occasion to justify their salary and to feel their power. 🙂 [note: a joke to all those good people in Customs, we knoiw you only exist to protect us from dangerous items coming through the mails to us. Really a joke. (Darn I forgot they don’t have senses of humor)]
b) Should you be the rare buyer who gets a pipe that has a defect, and slipped through quality control, you’ll be better off in solving the problem.
c) shipping, if you should be ordering one, is much cheaper and faster within the States, than between the States and Canada, almost like they were different countries! LOL I usually allow for two weeks for a parcel to come up from the US by First Class.
Yours,
Al (in Canada)
I love my Brigham pipe. The promised tobaccos should be interesting too. I wonder if this whole reorganization was prompted by Canada’s oppressive anti-tobacco policies.
Actually, Brigham pipes are all made in Italy nowadays by Lorenzetti. The are not reallly the same as the classic Brighams made in Canada many years ago, of which I have a good number that I bought from their old factory on Ripley Avenue. However, they are still excelent smokes, nonetheless. They smoke dry right form the start and, in my experiences with them that span over 30 years, need no painful breakin.
May our American Brothers of the Briar enjoy a great classic Canadian pipe design!
2 of the 3 pipes I own are Brighams…I love them! Glad they are in the US!
I’m sure with Brian at the helm,things will be awesome.
Lowell Tebbetts