Which Other Italian Brand Uses 10 Year Old Briar?

[Alejo R.]

As an aside, I wonder if the decline of the pipe-making industry in volume has allowed the growth of briar to significantly expand now that harvesting has decreased. Does this make it easier and more accessible to harvest and decrease the price relatively? Harvesting briar is heavy labor in the best of times, but I wonder if the lower sales of pipes compared to the 1950's, for example, has allowed the crop to flourish.

I think that's the case. The difficult thing is to find people who want to do such a hard job for the same salary that they would earn as waiters in any restaurant in the tourist area where the briar is extracted.

 

[Searock Fan]

Italy 2012: Castello | Smokingpipes Daily Reader

I'm beginning this little missive while Marco Parascenzo and Franco Coppo are locked in detailed discussion. I love listening to the lilting, almost musical, Italian, though I have little sense of what they're discussing.

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As to Castello, I guess it all depends on what you call a "large" amount of briar.

 

[Hillcrest]

They've only been around since 1947. They may be 'works of art' but not to me. Unfortunately, I have yet to find any appealing after going through all the ones online on smokingpipes.com and the Castello website. Maybe I just have a classical sense of art. But please do enjoy yours though !

 

[Searock Fan]

They've only been around since 1947. They may be 'works of art' but not to me. Unfortunately, I have yet to find any appealing after going through all the ones online on smokingpipes.com and the Castello website. Maybe I just have a classical sense of art. But please do enjoy yours though !

There's an old saying I just made up. "Beauty is in the eye of the smoker."

 

[bullet08]

I heard Vinnie down on 52nd street can get you a really old briar pipe. "Italian" too. As long as you are willing to pay in advance. Hell, he'll pitch in 20 year old briar if that's what you want.

 

[Hillcrest]

Amorelli uses old briar too.

Savinelli "brags" about using 3 year aged briar in their punto pipes, so the rest ain't ten years old, that's for sure.


Briar blocks change over time, they oxydize and the lignin crystallizes or something.... fresh briar tastes a little... fresh. It doesn't usually taste bad. But it's slightly less stable dimensionally than older wood, and I don't think it smokes as good as it would with more age on it. Mimmo suggests sitting on his product for 2 years, that's the steep part of the aging curve. And I tend to agree, most of the positive changes we see do occur pretty early on. I have 10 year old and old briar in my shop and it's generally harder to work with, stains with less contrast. It usually blasts well, and it tastes good, slightly corky and sweet, very small break in time.

I shoot to make pipes out of briar that is between 3 and 10 years old most of the time. And I have heard no real huge difference from customers buying a pipe from a 10 year aged block and a 3 year aged block. And it often happens I have a guy buy two pipes at the same time, and the source wood may not be the same..... I track this pretty steadily.

Thank you for the info, you helped me make an informed decision regarding a pipe. I appreciated it ?

 

[ak2000]

Moretti claims to use Briar that’s at least 10 years old

 

[autumnfog]

Lot's of great info here, thanks gents!

 

[fredhanna]

As @ak2000 said, Moretti claims to use briar that is at least 10 years old.

I am a big fan of Moretti pipes and have owned and smoked them for well over 20 years. And I also own 4 Moretti morta pipes, which I think are great as well, and a great value.

 

[ak2000]

As @ak2000 said, Moretti claims to use briar that is at least 10 years old.

I am a big fan of Moretti pipes and have owned and smoked them for well over 20 years. And I also own 4 Moretti morta pipes, which I think are great as well, and a great value.

Agreed, Moretti are excellent pipes!

 

[jpmcwjr]

As @ak2000 said, Moretti claims to use briar that is at least 10 years old.

I am a big fan of Moretti pipes and have owned and smoked them for well over 20 years. And I also own 4 Moretti morta pipes, which I think are great as well, and a great value.

Great to see you posting here, Fred! I hope you pick up on your approximate one post per year pace! If I acquire another pipe this year, it'll probably be a Moretti.