My New Icarus Straight Apple Has Arrived!

[drezz01]

I, like many of you I assume, browse smokingpipes' fresh pipes page from time to time. I like to ogle pipes I will never be able to afford and callously judge the entry-level pipes that I could afford. Therefore it surprised me when I found myself drawn to a pipe in the sub-200 price range. I had heard high praise for the briarworks offerings and the charming shape, seemingly finely articulated blast, and well coordinated finishes signed the deal - I gave in the the iPAD - the impulse driven cousin of Pipe Acquisition Disorder.
I won't wax too poetic about this one, but I am supremely pleased! The sillouette is fantastic; the apple is plump and jovial, the blast is articulate and far (far, far, farfarfar) surpasses my stanwell (the only other blasted sub-200 pipe I own). The stem work has all the hallmarks of a well-engineered apparatus designed with Bernoulli's principles in mind (bored draft hole on the tenon, V'd out draft hole at the button -- though I'm not a huge fan of acrylic) and, i believe, a delron tenon -- which I hear is desirable... It even looks quite charming adorned with the little wind cap I ordered along with it (gotta make the shipping charge worth it, right?).
Have yet to smoke the wee-guy, but so far, I am a happy man! I am convinced this is value incarnate.

More images HERE

 

[bigpond]

That's about the nicest looking pipe pipe I've seen from them. Some of the neptune's I was looking at yesterday have a really odd, erratic blast. Not yours though.
Light that thing up and report back!

 

[ssjones]

That is one of the nicest Neptune shapes and blasts I've seen, good eye!

 

[layinpipe]

I echo what bigpond and Al wrote, that is one of the nicest, if not THE nicest blast and stain finish on Todd and Pete's Briarworks line to date. Wow, hot damn that thing looks great! I love the ring between the stem and shank as well, really compliments the stain and blast and makes the pipe just pop off the page, IMAX style. Congrats on the new addition to the family and i will now be keeping an EXTRA sharp eye on Briarworks line. Thanks for sharing, brother! Let us know how she smokes. Cheers..

 

[bigpond]

I think it's the best stain option they have. They seem to use is sparingly though. Get smoking!

 

[buckaroo]

Yeah, very nice choice. One of the best I've seen from them.

 

[lonestar]

Nice choice. The pipe looks like everything Briarworks were meant to be; a Factory Pipe with panache, and detail work thats tough to find in the price range.

 

[mrenglish]

Totally agree with everything else, you scored nicely on that one. The weight is perfect for clenching and you cannot beat that blast.

 

[tarak]

Nice Apple. Enjoy!

 

[mrjerke]

I really dig this one. Good pickup. I'm always a fan of a good apple.

 

[mso489]

That's a fine looker, handsome finish and stain and a good sturdy look. I really like the straight apple shape. I now have two, a Ropp in a red stain with a raspberry stem and silver band, and a Sav rusticated with a gold-tone band that I won in the cartoon caption contest. I really like these pipes, good ample bowls but light weight for clenching. Let us know how this one smokes -- looks like it will be terrific.

 

[jkrug]

That's a real good looking pipe drezz! I've been eyeballing one of their long strawberries for awhile now. Enjoy.

 

[drezz01]

Let us know how she smokes.

I've had the chance to put several bowls through this crab apple and it has officially joined my top 3 (along my Alden Lovat and my Castello Sea Rock Canadian).
My main criticism of this pipe arose on its first light. The carbon bowl coating was residually chalky. I discovered this with the tip of my finger and should have cleaned the pipe up a bit first; a pipe cleaner would have done the trick. I was laden with anticipation, however, so I loaded it up with some of my current favorite straight VA (Wessex Brigade Campaign Dark Flake) and got to smoking. It was terrible. I can still taste it in my mouth, that gritty taste of pencil lead completely masking the taste of the tobacco. Somehow, my cerebral torpor prevailed, and I again failed to remedy the situation by passing a pipe cleaner through the pipe.
Thankfully, my relationship with the pipe has greatly improved. The post-smoke quick clean remedied the excess bowl coating. It fits about 80% of a Solani Aged Burley Flake - which is perfect for me as a full flake gives me a little bit of nicotine-sickness.
The fit-and-finish on this pipe is tremendous. The translucent stem is a fantastic show piece of the slot-to-draw transition and the delron insert. The saddle stem is quite comfortable which has incited me to experiment with clenching. The pipe's short lever-arm and generally diminutive nature lends itself well to this.
The sandblast is approximately nine-thousand times better than my stanwell blast. While the latter looks like it had been blasted with gravel, and with little to no reguard for the underlying grain, the prior presents the consecutive strata of growth in stark relief with a fine level of articulation. And I paid less for the Icarus.
Some of you have said that this specific apple looks to be an exemplary specimen among the Icarus offerings; it certainly has buoyed my boat. It easily joins my Alden Lovat and Castello Canadian: all three of which I feel lucky to have in my posession, honestly. IMHO, if this little apple isn't just an exception -- if it is illustrative of the product that is flowing out of that small factory, I think the likes of Stanwell, Peterson - possibly even Savinelli, would be wise to take notice and plan accordingly. I have a small assortment of pipes from each of the aforementioned that I paid considerably more for and which do not please me near as much.

 

[seacaptain]

Nice! Be sure to keep it away from the sun.

 

[drezz01]

Nice! Be sure to keep it away from the sun.

Ugh, that reference took me way too long to get.
"Sun?, why? pipes can be in the sum, unless they have a vulcanite stem, this pipe doesn't have a vulcanite stem, is it the stain? do the stains not hold up well to UV? maybe it's a joke? like it's an apple... maybe it shouldn't be in the sun? ... that doesn't make sense."
*it was at that point he remembered his classical mythology course and regretted the money he spent on higher education*

 

[jpmcwjr]

Heh. The trouble begins only when you fly too high, too close to the Sun.