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MisterBadger

Lifer
Oct 6, 2024
1,237
11,055
Ludlow, UK
Some more Rattray's Stirling Flake, this time in the veteran Makonde Rhodesian Meer. Smoked far better than yesterday when it was only roughly rubbed and left dry a little for half an hour then smoked in a new Meer. At that time I thought: "Meh! Brassy, ashy, a one-trick pony - how on earth could anyone compare it favourably with Peterson's Irish Flake?" Well, this time, after drying some more (overnight) and some more assiduous rubbing, it smoked beautifully and allowed a slow, quiet cadence... by mid-bowl, some mysterious alchemical process had transmuted the brass to gold and amber 😁 tangerine marmalade and occasional hints of caramel. It will still take some getting to know, so next time I'll try it in a briar... by the way, the ashdigger/tamper is a gem-encrusted silver masterpiece from my not-so-secret Santa of this SomBesthsFest, @cosmicfolklore. (May his shadow never grow less).
Smoke261225.jpg
 

PaulRVA

The Gentleman From Richmond
Sep 13, 2023
1,040
19,486
Long Beach
Some more Rattray's Stirling Flake, this time in the veteran Makonde Rhodesian Meer. Smoked far better than yesterday when it was only roughly rubbed and left dry a little for half an hour then smoked in a new Meer. At that time I thought: "Meh! Brassy, ashy, a one-trick pony - how on earth could anyone compare it favourably with Peterson's Irish Flake?" Well, this time, after drying some more (overnight) and some more assiduous rubbing, it smoked beautifully and allowed a slow, quiet cadence... by mid-bowl, some mysterious alchemical process had transmuted the brass to gold and amber 😁 tangerine marmalade and occasional hints of caramel. It will still take some getting to know, so next time I'll try it in a briar... by the way, the ashdigger/tamper is a gem-encrusted silver masterpiece from my not-so-secret Santa of this SomBesthsFest, @cosmicfolklore. (May his shadow never grow less).
View attachment 441028
My friends and I like to argue which is “better” Irish or Stirling with me always preferring Irish. I do like the rattrays offering but find it a tad more stout and what I sense is a bit of a cinnamon twang. Doubtful it is actual cinnamon but just a note.
 

PaulRVA

The Gentleman From Richmond
  • The "Milverton" pipe is a specific bent billiard shape with a distinctive diamond shank, part of Peterson's popular Sherlock Holmes collection, named after the villain Charles Augustus Milverton

  • The Character: Milverton is a charming but ruthless blackmailer, holding secrets of London's elite for exorbitant sums, described by Holmes as "worse than all of them".
  • The Story: In "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton," Holmes attempts to retrieve incriminating letters for Lady Eva, ultimately leading to Milverton's murder by a woman he wronged.
 

MisterBadger

Lifer
Oct 6, 2024
1,237
11,055
Ludlow, UK
  • The "Milverton" pipe is a specific bent billiard shape with a distinctive diamond shank, part of Peterson's popular Sherlock Holmes collection, named after the villain Charles Augustus Milverton

  • The Character: Milverton is a charming but ruthless blackmailer, holding secrets of London's elite for exorbitant sums, described by Holmes as "worse than all of them".
  • The Story: In "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton," Holmes attempts to retrieve incriminating letters for Lady Eva, ultimately leading to Milverton's murder by a woman he wronged.
Milverton was a dreadful man. Everything a good, manly Victorian gentleman would despise. I'm frankly surprised that Peterson's named a pipe after him, rather than - say - a baddie with more cachet, like Irene Adler (the one woman Holmes really admired and almost loved). What can we expect next? A Peterson's Moriarty? Or a Moran? (And why do so many of Doyle's villains' names begin with an M?)
 

Roach1

Lifer
Nov 25, 2023
3,780
77,416
Germany
Milverton was a dreadful man. Everything a good, manly Victorian gentleman would despise. I'm frankly surprised that Peterson's named a pipe after him, rather than - say - a baddie with more cachet, like Irene Adler (the one woman Holmes really admired and almost loved). What can we expect next? A Peterson's Moriarty? Or a Moran? (And why do so many of Doyle's villains' names begin with an M?)
I liked the way it looked, I'm not really concerned about his virtues. He is after all fictional.