The Mr Brog 112 "habit" pipe has arrived and here is my attempt at a review of it.
This is my first official review of anything so bear with me.
What it looks like:
First of all, the pipe is in my opinion a very nice example of work with Bog Oak / Morta.
It is a hefty looking pot shaped pipe with thick walls a .75" chamber diameter and a 1.77" chamber depth.
The pipe size fills the hand and is pleasant to hold as a result.
Even with the larger proportions it is very light compared to similar sized briars that I have held.
The Bowl is beautifully sandblasted and shows the very nice grain pattern of the morta. Honestly the bowl looks as nice as most of the morta pipe photos I have seen.
The inside of the bowl was not ultra smooth as a result of the morta grain pattern. I would bet this will help the pipe to build cake nicely.
A saddle bit stem accompanies the bowl and looks nice as well. There is also a brass or gold colored ring that looks ok.
The bit is made of ebonite and is quite hard. I believe even the occasional clencher will benefit from a softy bit. The stem is made for 9mm filters (I smoked without a filter with no issues).
Pipe cleaners pass through the stem into the bowl easily. It has a nice open draw and is engineered well. The drilling appears to be done quite nicely.
Now for how it smokes:
For the first two smokes I chose a VaPer so I could get a good baseline compared to what I have been recently smoking.
After the charring light the tobacco burned well with no unusual characteristics related to draw. No more than the usual amount of relights were required. In fact it was very easy to keep the pipe lit.
The pipe stayed fairly cool and cooled down fast when the ember was allowed to go out. I hear the fast cooling is one of the properties of morta.
Now here is where I noticed the difference in taste of morta versus briar. The tobacco definitely had a different flavor than normal. The taste had more of a smokey taste. I read where others called it a peat-like taste.
I would have to agree with that assessment. The taste was not bad at all but was different than when smoking a briar.
It has been said that morta smokes with neutral flavor similar to meerschaum. I have to disagree with that statement, for this pipe at least.
The third smoke was of the lakeland variety. The extra smokey taste was still there, but was a nice addition to the lakeland essence. It evened out the flavors to some degree. The pipe did not ghost.
I'm not sure if the morta flavor will be muted over time or not. If it is that will be fine. If not, that will be fine as well. I think english blends will be great in this pipe. I just have not had time to smoke any yet.
Summary:
The Mr Brog 112 "Habit" Morta is a very nice pipe. I would say excellent for the $70 including shipping that was spent.
It looks good and smokes quite nicely. I am not crazy about the 9mm fiter stem. I wish they offered a non filtered option.
Nope, the pipe is not an Artisan pipe. It is a nice looking, well made pipe at a great price, especially for someone like myself wanting to give morta a try without spending a lot.
Would I try another Morta from Mr. Brog? The answer is yes, I might give one of the smaller diameter bent mortas a try. I prefer a smaller bowl pipe most of the time.
Hope this review helps.
This is my first official review of anything so bear with me.
What it looks like:
First of all, the pipe is in my opinion a very nice example of work with Bog Oak / Morta.
It is a hefty looking pot shaped pipe with thick walls a .75" chamber diameter and a 1.77" chamber depth.
The pipe size fills the hand and is pleasant to hold as a result.
Even with the larger proportions it is very light compared to similar sized briars that I have held.
The Bowl is beautifully sandblasted and shows the very nice grain pattern of the morta. Honestly the bowl looks as nice as most of the morta pipe photos I have seen.
The inside of the bowl was not ultra smooth as a result of the morta grain pattern. I would bet this will help the pipe to build cake nicely.
A saddle bit stem accompanies the bowl and looks nice as well. There is also a brass or gold colored ring that looks ok.
The bit is made of ebonite and is quite hard. I believe even the occasional clencher will benefit from a softy bit. The stem is made for 9mm filters (I smoked without a filter with no issues).
Pipe cleaners pass through the stem into the bowl easily. It has a nice open draw and is engineered well. The drilling appears to be done quite nicely.
Now for how it smokes:
For the first two smokes I chose a VaPer so I could get a good baseline compared to what I have been recently smoking.
After the charring light the tobacco burned well with no unusual characteristics related to draw. No more than the usual amount of relights were required. In fact it was very easy to keep the pipe lit.
The pipe stayed fairly cool and cooled down fast when the ember was allowed to go out. I hear the fast cooling is one of the properties of morta.
Now here is where I noticed the difference in taste of morta versus briar. The tobacco definitely had a different flavor than normal. The taste had more of a smokey taste. I read where others called it a peat-like taste.
I would have to agree with that assessment. The taste was not bad at all but was different than when smoking a briar.
It has been said that morta smokes with neutral flavor similar to meerschaum. I have to disagree with that statement, for this pipe at least.
The third smoke was of the lakeland variety. The extra smokey taste was still there, but was a nice addition to the lakeland essence. It evened out the flavors to some degree. The pipe did not ghost.
I'm not sure if the morta flavor will be muted over time or not. If it is that will be fine. If not, that will be fine as well. I think english blends will be great in this pipe. I just have not had time to smoke any yet.
Summary:
The Mr Brog 112 "Habit" Morta is a very nice pipe. I would say excellent for the $70 including shipping that was spent.
It looks good and smokes quite nicely. I am not crazy about the 9mm fiter stem. I wish they offered a non filtered option.
Nope, the pipe is not an Artisan pipe. It is a nice looking, well made pipe at a great price, especially for someone like myself wanting to give morta a try without spending a lot.
Would I try another Morta from Mr. Brog? The answer is yes, I might give one of the smaller diameter bent mortas a try. I prefer a smaller bowl pipe most of the time.
Hope this review helps.
