My new Mr Brog arrived in the post the other day. I had vacillated on getting one of the pearwoods, both for the sake of the price and the positive notices I'd read, but in the I went for the No. 66 Kurosawa briar - a really interesting half-bent Zulu-esque thing. It's a 20 dollar pipe and the briar itself shows it: the grain is a bit muddy, it's not short on fills and the varnish feels sort of plasticky.
However, the engineering appears to be sound and although I've only had two bowls of it it smokes dry and sweet without seeming to need any kind of break-in. It arguably outsmokes my Peterson Aran, which cost almost thrice as much, and really puts my James Fox Tally-Ho in the shade (this particular "entry-level" bent briar looks like I could have drilled it myself, with a clothes-hanger, with my feet, and absolutely gurgles like a newborn, but that's another story).
Mr Brog seems to be more famous for their (his??) pearwoods but for briar on a budget I'd say look no further.
However, the engineering appears to be sound and although I've only had two bowls of it it smokes dry and sweet without seeming to need any kind of break-in. It arguably outsmokes my Peterson Aran, which cost almost thrice as much, and really puts my James Fox Tally-Ho in the shade (this particular "entry-level" bent briar looks like I could have drilled it myself, with a clothes-hanger, with my feet, and absolutely gurgles like a newborn, but that's another story).
Mr Brog seems to be more famous for their (his??) pearwoods but for briar on a budget I'd say look no further.
