First let me say that I have no way of verifying the veracity of the claim and in general, scuttlebutt is taken as just that. Still, when you hear something as a consumer that might concern your buying habits you tend to take notice. On another pipe related space, it was asserted that Michael Butera was unhappy with the quality of the last few releases of Pelican and rejected them from a quality control perspective. While it was not explained why, it was also asserted that these rejected tins were then sold with a thick black line through the country of origin on the tin. This is supposedly directly from the horses mouth and was passed along to a pipe club but I can in no way judge the validity of the claim. As a consumer, I would find this quite disturbing if true. Why would Butera sell a rejected batch and why would the retailers accept it and pass it along to consumers with no such disclaimer. I hate to give weight to gossip but it was a bit alarming to hear.