I'm in Birmingham visiting my in-laws for Thanksgiving. I get over here once in awhile and always try to stop in at The Briary. I got some goodies for my Secret Santa, a tin for another special piper, and got myself a tin of McClellands Black Shag and an ounce of house blend called Chart Topper. I filled up my Nording Bear and lit it with my Xikar scribe, but on the second light I got no flame out of the lighter. I took it up to the counter to see what they could do with it, and John said that it looked like a gas flow problem. I asked him what he thought I should do and he said, how about a new lighter. I was like, "huh, seriously?". He took me into the back, took my old lighter, and gave me a brand new one. He said they have a lifetime warranty which I knew already, and is why I bought one, but instead of me mailing it in, he just took it and gave me a new one. So a big thanks to Skip and John at The Briary, I love going in there and looking at all of the pipes and Skip and I had a great conversation about pipe making and pipe restoration, but their service is 2nd to none. Also it looks like Eric Nording will be the guest at their annual event again this year on February 15, so I expect to be making a trip back over here for that.
