Alright guys, my Rosslare Royal Irish 6 arrived after ordering from Pipe Divan. A quick shout out to them, because the pipe arrived at my door exactly one week after placing the order, and Yiorgos from Pipe Divan was a pleasure to do business with. (Also, I got it for $127 with free shipping!!) If you've drooled over these online, you know that's a stupid good deal. I'll post some pictures of the new pipe, and then share some initial thoughts about it...
So the quality of the pipe appears to be nearly flawless. This is only my second Peterson so I don't have a whole lot to compare it to. The briar actually looks much deeper and more stunning in person. I know, I know... everyone says that... but it's completely true for this beauty. There are zero fills, also a big plus for me. The silver work looks fantastic to my eye, and I don't see any real flaws whatsoever as far as cosmetics are concerned. I have only smoked one little half bowl out of it, so it's not broken in by any means, but I do have a few minor concerns with the pipe.
1) Before ever smoking it, and it had been sitting at room temp for 3 days, the fit between mortise and tenon is EXCRUCIATINGLY tight. Like, I'm afraid I'm going to snap the stem every time I remove or try to reset it in place.
2) The air hole appears to my eye to sit slightly up towards the 12 o' clock position in the shank, not perfectly centered. Also it is slightly oblong or elliptical looking, not perfectly round.
3) There is a gurgle which is not present in my other Pete. Granted, I only smoked some C&D Dreams of Kadath that has never been out of a sealed jar since the tin was opened. The leaves were definitely pretty moist and I only let it dry for about 10 minutes after breaking up some of the plug. So maybe the tobacco was just too moist?
Anyway, I do truly love this thing, and I hope it will break in nicely. It's stunning, and seems to be a quality pipe. Wondering if anyone else has experienced any of my aforementioned difficulties? Especially a super duper tight fitting stem and gurgle? I really hope these quirks will work themselves out of the pipe with time.
So the quality of the pipe appears to be nearly flawless. This is only my second Peterson so I don't have a whole lot to compare it to. The briar actually looks much deeper and more stunning in person. I know, I know... everyone says that... but it's completely true for this beauty. There are zero fills, also a big plus for me. The silver work looks fantastic to my eye, and I don't see any real flaws whatsoever as far as cosmetics are concerned. I have only smoked one little half bowl out of it, so it's not broken in by any means, but I do have a few minor concerns with the pipe.
1) Before ever smoking it, and it had been sitting at room temp for 3 days, the fit between mortise and tenon is EXCRUCIATINGLY tight. Like, I'm afraid I'm going to snap the stem every time I remove or try to reset it in place.
2) The air hole appears to my eye to sit slightly up towards the 12 o' clock position in the shank, not perfectly centered. Also it is slightly oblong or elliptical looking, not perfectly round.
3) There is a gurgle which is not present in my other Pete. Granted, I only smoked some C&D Dreams of Kadath that has never been out of a sealed jar since the tin was opened. The leaves were definitely pretty moist and I only let it dry for about 10 minutes after breaking up some of the plug. So maybe the tobacco was just too moist?
Anyway, I do truly love this thing, and I hope it will break in nicely. It's stunning, and seems to be a quality pipe. Wondering if anyone else has experienced any of my aforementioned difficulties? Especially a super duper tight fitting stem and gurgle? I really hope these quirks will work themselves out of the pipe with time.
:
