Look harder. Those statements exist.
This is total bullshit, mostly created by marketing types. The sweet spot for age varies according to region, I have been told by carvers, cutters, and briar merchants. Mostly it's between 35 and 65 years, with Algerian going later. Barling was the "Ye Olde Wood" pipe maker, celebrated for their use of 100 to 150 year old burls. But in their own literature they stated that they looked for burls of about 65 years of age, and unlike all other makers except for Comoy, did their own harvesting, curing, and milling. Everyone else bought off the market.
It's a popular myth that only green crappy wood is being used today.
I used to smoke Dunhills. I still have a couple of them. They made an excellent pipe. I just found other makers whose pipes I liked better, such as Barling. Are Dunhills worth the money? They are if you're willing to spend it and if you want to own a Dunhill.
Absolutely spot on, though when it comes to the history of British pipes, Dunhill is strictly a johnnie come lately. Barling had been around nearly a century before Dunhill, Comoy's about the same, and Charatan, Loewe and BBB were around a good 50/60 years before Dunhill, turning out superb smoking pipes.
www.smokingpipes.com
