Ruminations on Why Better Briar Smokes Better

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Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,759
13,781
Humansville Missouri
This afternoon I was trying to smoke my pipes on my back porch {deck} and it was stifling hot.

I looked at my phone and it was 97 in the shade.

All those Lees were spread out in front of me, sort of baking in the heat. I thought this isn’t as much fun as it was, and went inside my ice cold garage.

The best looking woman I’ll ever see in all my life was inside. The first time she came up to me 22 years ago I wondered why some super model was in Cabela’s in Mitchell South Dakota. She’s been typing my papers and scheduling my calendar and raising our kids ever since. I’m a lucky man.

She smiled and asked me, if something she was typing was all right, and it was when I read it.

I reached for a Lee Three Star that has just gorgeous grain, filled it with cherry cavendish and fired it up.

She asked if that pipe tasted as good as it smelled, and I said probably better.

A really pretty pipe tastes better.

Better briar has tighter grain, but most of the reason better briar tastes better, is we are so glad we own such a pretty, shining thing as that, you know?

It’s mostly in our heads, but it’s real anyway.
 

telescopes

Pipe Dreamer and Star Gazer
I am beginning to put more emphasis on density, curing process, and purity that is free from pits and knots in the grain. I prefer a thicker walled pipe, but I have some thin walled pipes that smoke exceedingly well, so that proposition goes out the door. It is clear to me that some of my pipes smoke so they are more enjoyable than others.
 
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Papamique

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 11, 2020
789
3,953
This afternoon I was trying to smoke my pipes on my back porch {deck} and it was stifling hot.

I looked at my phone and it was 97 in the shade.

All those Lees were spread out in front of me, sort of baking in the heat. I thought this isn’t as much fun as it was, and went inside my ice cold garage.

The best looking woman I’ll ever see in all my life was inside. The first time she came up to me 22 years ago I wondered why some super model was in Cabela’s in Mitchell South Dakota. She’s been typing my papers and scheduling my calendar and raising our kids ever since. I’m a lucky man.

She smiled and asked me, if something she was typing was all right, and it was when I read it.

I reached for a Lee Three Star that has just gorgeous grain, filled it with cherry cavendish and fired it up.

She asked if that pipe tasted as good as it smelled, and I said probably better.

A really pretty pipe tastes better.

Better briar has tighter grain, but most of the reason better briar tastes better, is we are so glad we own such a pretty, shining thing as that, you know?

It’s mostly in our heads, but it’s real anyway.
Great minds think alike! There is something that is added to the smoking experience by using a pipe you enjoy smoking. I am beginning to think that properly cured briar has something to do with it also.
 
Jul 26, 2021
2,176
8,942
Metro-Detroit
Even if you choose to to not decide you still have made a choice ~ Rush
I use this lyric frequently, which often results in people figuring out they don't necessarily have to make a choice.

Little known Rush fact: the song Fly by Night was initially recorded on the road in between traveling gigs in a small studio in Lansing, Michigan. If not that song, it was a different single.
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,759
13,781
Humansville Missouri
Looking for a shotgun with a high quality finish.
She was visiting her mother in Mitchell.

I was recently divorced and the saddest man in Cabela’s, sitting there all pitiful, eating a sandwich, on my way to Winner South Dakota and pheasant camp.

I sorta perked up and started smiling a bit, when it dawned on me, she was making conversation.

I almost forgot all about those hairy legged boys waiting for me in Winner.

Finally, I used my best pick up line—

I’ve not been on a date since 1977.

Would you care if I took you and your three children to see a movie somewhere in Mitchell?

I even paid for their lunch.

Don’t you tell me there ain’t no Jesus.

I was about to pay my check and leave when she walked in.:)
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,759
13,781
Humansville Missouri
I don’t think you can. That’s where the manufacturer’s reputation is leaned on. My Vintage Dunhill pipes seem to have this in common.
Consider this.

Order buyers at a cattle auction barn can and do expertly grade live cattle for carcass quality.

Why can’t briar buyers do the same trick?

I think some pipe makers like Dunhill are smarter than they are lucky.
 

didimauw

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 28, 2013
9,888
31,593
34
Burlington WI
She was visiting her mother in Mitchell.

I was recently divorced and the saddest man in Cabela’s, sitting there all pitiful, eating a sandwich, on my way to Winner South Dakota and pheasant camp.

I sorta perked up and started smiling a bit, when it dawned on me, she was making conversation.

I almost forgot all about those hairy legged boys waiting for me in Winner.

Finally, I used my best pick up line—

I’ve not been on a date since 1977.

Would you care if I took you and your three children to see a movie somewhere in Mitchell?

I even paid for their lunch.

Don’t you tell me there ain’t no Jesus.

I was about to pay my check and leave when she walked in.:)
How long was it before you showed her your pipe?
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,759
13,781
Humansville Missouri
How long was it before you showed her your pipe?
When we went outside her kids climbed the rock columns out there in front of Cabela’s like they were a jungle gym.

She pulled out a 120 mm menthol Virginia Slim cigarette and my Zippo came out of my pocket before she could find her Calibri lighter.

She’s two inches taller than me, on three inch heels( I’m 5’11”) in a size 2 dress.

She was a college trained paralegal, too.

I forgot my troubles, and fired up an unfiltered American Spirit.

Do you realize what I’ve spent on endless cartons of Virginia Slims 120 Menthol Golds since that day?

I haven’t bothered adding it up.:)
 

didimauw

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 28, 2013
9,888
31,593
34
Burlington WI
When went outside her kids climbed the rock columns out there in front of Cabela’s like they were a jungle gym.

She pulled out a 120 mm menthol Virginia Slim cigarette and my Zippo came out of my pocket before she could find her Calibri lighter.

She’s two inches taller than me, on three inch heels( I’m 5’11”) in a size 2 dress.

She was a college trained paralegal, too.

I forgot my troubles, and fired up an unfiltered American Spirit.

Do you realize what I’ve spent on endless cartons of Virginia Slims 120 Menthol Golds since that day?

I haven’t bothered adding it up.:)
Pictures or it didn't happen! You can't brag without proof! Let's see her!
 

telescopes

Pipe Dreamer and Star Gazer
Consider this.

Order buyers at a cattle auction barn can and do expertly grade live cattle for carcass quality.

Why can’t briar buyers do the same trick?

I think some pipe makers like Dunhill are smarter than they are lucky.
I think the poster is referring to pipes that are completed and ready to be sold. Rusticated and sandblasted or even painted finishes make this process more difficult. Even a natural finish can hide an internal flaw.