Only purchased one pipe off Mike, Castello of course. Service was brilliant and packaging for the long trip down under was most certainly up to task. Take it easy Mike and enjoy those guitars.
Briar Blues Shutting Down
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Mike, I will miss both your content (especially the Thursday banter) and your penchant for heavily topped menthol-forward black cavendish aromatics. Enjoy your retirement, and don't be playing too many bar chords at your age! Unless you're auditioning for a prog rock band, in which case, please disregard this advice.
Best wishes,
Gabe
Best wishes,
Gabe
One of these days I'm going to re-drill the shank on a Radice to take a Missouri Meerschaum stem, only then will I have the perfect tobacco pipe.
Thanks for the kind words. Instead of wasting the band width on a business that has decided to close, go out and deal with your local B&M, go online and grab something from one of the smaller retailers, before they need to make a decision that will create another sad to see a business close thread.
Sincerely
Mike
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Well kind sir, all I can say is, good luck and God bless. And thank you. Even though I only started smoking pipe 3 years ago, your influence is undoubtedly worth a lifetime.
Sincerely
Mike
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Well kind sir, all I can say is, good luck and God bless. And thank you. Even though I only started smoking pipe 3 years ago, your influence is undoubtedly worth a lifetime.
Having watched most of Mike's videos on YouTube, I feel I know him and like him. He has those traits for which Canadians are rightly admired—modesty, kindness, quiet competence, helpfulness and good manners.
I've bought a few pipes from Briar Blues over the years, most recently a rare Castello epoca that I thought was a bargain. Mike, enjoy the extra time you'll have to pursue your other interests and projects.
I've bought a few pipes from Briar Blues over the years, most recently a rare Castello epoca that I thought was a bargain. Mike, enjoy the extra time you'll have to pursue your other interests and projects.
Mike,
Remember me. You sold me a Dunhill Cumberland (ring grain). That was years ago. Keep going and keep well.
Remember me. You sold me a Dunhill Cumberland (ring grain). That was years ago. Keep going and keep well.
Did not see this previously, all the best Mike in your future endeavors. I bought some of my first pipes from you and never looked back 
always a gentleman and a scholar! Thank you 
always a gentleman and a scholar! Thank you 
As I'm sitting here scrolling through threads, I see this one, and came across this post. It just so happens that I'm currently smoking a CAO lattice billiard meerschaum that Mike gifted me a couple years back. How funny is that?
One day I received a package by surprise with a note basically saying I smoked this a few times, not for me, enjoy. He tried it, didn't like it, and knew I was a meerschaum guy and graciously gifted it to me. I was very appreciative of the gift, and I enjoy the pipe from time to time. It's a great smoking pipe, but because it's a bit more delicate with the lattice work, I don't smoke it as much as my other meerschaums.
I had the pleasure of hanging out and smoking a pipe with Mike a couple times. A true gentleman and a wealth of knowledge regarding pipe smoking. It's unfortunate that Briar Blues is no longer in business, but it looks like the website will transition to a source of information regarding pipes, so at least we have that. Plus Mike is still on here, so he can share his knowledge from time to time when he's not playing the blues on his guitars.
I saw that one, you just posted with it in the WAYS thread right? Great looking pipe, who makes it? A specific artisan or just regularly available AKB or Altinay or something?As I'm sitting here scrolling through threads, I see this one, and came across this post. It just so happens that I'm currently smoking a CAO lattice billiard meerschaum that Mike gifted me a couple years back. How funny is that?
One day I received a package by surprise with a note basically saying I smoked this a few times, not for me, enjoy. He tried it, didn't like it, and knew I was a meerschaum guy and graciously gifted it to me. I was very appreciative of the gift, and I enjoy the pipe from time to time. It's a great smoking pipe, but because it's a bit more delicate with the lattice work, I don't smoke it as much as my other meerschaums.
I had the pleasure of hanging out and smoking a pipe with Mike a couple times. A true gentleman and a wealth of knowledge regarding pipe smoking. It's unfortunate that Briar Blues is no longer in business, but it looks like the website will transition to a source of information regarding pipes, so at least we have that. Plus Mike is still on here, so he can share his knowledge from time to time when he's not playing the blues on his guitars.
Yes, I posted it previous to the post in this thread. It's a CAO meer, but unknown carver, and unknown year, but I'm thinking early to mid 80's. It came with a black stem as well, so I can swap out the stems if I want. Though those may be replacement stems as they don't have the CAO marking on them like most CAO meers have.