Quick Poll

[e Markle]

Who's your favorite briar vendor?

I need fewer (cavernous) flaws. Thanks!

ernie

[LexKY_Pipe]

I always get good briar from Romeo Briar.

[Sasquatch]

PME stuff is pretty reliable. I thought that there was a downswing in quality maybe 6 months ago in the stuff I got (the Cirta grade stuff) but the last batch or two has been very good. Maybe just random chance and it's all the same lot.

[FoxGuy]

I've bought 40-50 blocks from PME and only had 1 with a flaw that was terminal

[jeff]

Ernie,

I've had great results with briar from Mimmo and Manno. Never once have I found a cavern like those sometimes found in Yazid's.

Jeff

[prosmoking]

I've bought 40-50 blocks from PME and only had 1 with a flaw that was terminal

I got a dozen from PME. Only worked 2 so far and both have terminal flaws. Since I hear others have good experience with this supplier, I guess this is just the way my luck is running right now.

The PME Algerian and the Tinsky Grecian? brier sure have different charateristics when you start woking them.

[jeff]

PME's Algerian briar is generally very good. I have a lot of it, and have used a lot of it over the years. I would not hesitate from encouraging folks to try it. If you'd like to try Tuscan briar without making a bulk order, call PME. It's pricey, but in my opinion is a good value. However, if you are at the stage in your hobby where you want to buy direct I would recommend both of the suppliers I mentioned. There are others, for sure. Check out pipedia.org's list.

Jeff

[KurtHuhn]

I agree with Jeff. The PME Algerian is the "old stock" stuff from Yazid. Meaning, very consistent quality, very dry, and low incidence of terminal flaws.

If you want to go direct, there are quite a few cutters who are willing to send "sampler" orders for a relatively small fee. That way you can get a selection from a few different places and judge for yourself where the best value may be.

[e Markle]

Thanks guys. I noticed PME is running a sale on some of their higher end stuff. I'll give that a try.

[jogilli]

I've been getting mine from Jaume Hom in Spain. He's supplied quite a bit of what I'd term quality briar. Only one has had a sand pit I haven't been able to work around..but it was one of his cheaper pieces so I can't complain. His extra extra plataeux has provided quite a few nice pipes for me.

http://www.briarblocks.com/pipes/index.htm

James

[Sasquatch]

I'm going to give this thread a little bump because the wind is changing here. PME has been short on Algerian (Yazids's stuff, yes?) stock off and on for awhile now, and I've thought that the pieces I got in the last six months were not as good/consistent as the older stuff (and older stock I bought from Vermontfreehand). That is, I've lost maybe 1 in 3 blocks to utterly fatal flaws in both the ebauchons and the cirta plateaux recently (not tassilli - it's GOOD, but both expensive and now basically out of stock). Perhaps this is just the briar gods paying me back for having hardly any flaws at all in the first.... I dunno, 20 or 40 or so blocks I got from PME in various grades. I would say this wood smokes with a certain characteristic sweetness - probably the best tasting briar I've used.

The Tuscan they sell is less dense, more porous, and in fact I have a customer showing me pictures of tar wicking through the stuff with heavy prolonged use. But under "normal" conditions, it is almost flaw free, certainly nothing cavernous in the half dozen or so pieces I've bought. It smokes with an astonishing neutrality of flavor - almost like a filtered pipe - the briar seems to add no flavor of it's own. I'd almost think that this wood is over-boiled - treated until it is losing some of it's structure. Stain penetrates quite deeply, for example.

Because of the recent shortage at PME I ordered a pack from Jaume Hom, knowing that reviews of his product are all over the map. Seeing the package, I think I'd agree with one of Jack Howell's comments, which was more or less that each pack has some real winners and some ... well, some not-so-good-as-the-winnners. This was extra grade, pack 46 (still on the site a/o today). You can see the good blocks and you can see the bad. Done 4 pipes of 6 blocks. First pipe was the worst block, tried to work it around an obvious flaw, and almost made it. Unsellable, this one got a quick stem and became a tester. I'm fine with that - I like to smoke the briar I use so I can be sure about it. I got one perfectly smooth, lovely little pipe, one very large pipe that needed just a touch of rusticating on some small pits, and another that was close to perfect, and indeed if I had drilled the block an eigth of an inch different, the thing would have been perfect. Grain is.... decent but not wonderful, but then this is just the "extra" grade.

Smoking Jom's briar, I'd say it has a slighty sharper taste than the algerian or tuscan. Almost reminds me of cedar, and specifically, of the spanish cedar a guy lines cigar boxes with. It surprised me because in working with the wood, it seems very well cured - has basically no smell, and is very dry and even in texture. The tang goes away - I have an older pipe made from this briar and it's quite serviceable. But I wouldn't brag about the first few smokes, I don't think. Possibly coating the bowl will become more regular for me if I continue with this supplier.

Anyway, I like how this product works and finishes. It's less dense than the algerian, but less porous and harder than the tuscan, so it finishes better. I liked it well enough to order some xx ebauchons, and we'll see what they're like.

Overall, so far, I'd take Yazid's best stuff over everything else, but since I have no way of supplying myself with this (confidently and easily) I'm looking elsewhere. Likewise, I haven't seen Jom's best stuff up close, so it's a little unfair to compare his lowest grade plateaux with Yazid's best.

I haven't tried Mimmo's briar, and I suspect it might amaze me. But 300 bucks for ten pieces is too much for me right now, and I don't want to sit on the stuff while it dries, so it's not the best option for me right now. I might buy a pack and put it on the shelf for awhile at some point here.

So there's the opinion of a dedicated hobbyist mid-grader (on a good day). PME is apparently going to be buying through another source, so hopefully they get a good selection of nice stuff up and running pretty soon.

[LexKY_Pipe]

Mimmo will work with pipemakers on making custom shipments too.

[Sasquatch]

Having ordered 2 packs from Jaume, I will say that the briar smokes okay, and some of the pieces are winners, and some of the pieces are not. Of 6 extra plateaux, I had one hidden pipe killing flaw, 2 flawless pipes, 2 needing rustication, 1 good enough for a pass, but not flawless. The good ones are beautiful.

Of 4 ebauchons drilled, 3 are not going to leave the shop bearing a stamp, if at all. One was garbage, just silly, porous, garbage. The current one looks okay. But I don't buy briar thinking that half of it is going to produce "seconds" grade stuff.

This is briar a guy would buy if he was doing a series of club pipes or something - some to rusticate, some smooths, some blasts, or whatever. But thinking every block has a nice pipe in it is wrong. I will work through this package of ebauchons and give a final count out of the 8.

[TimGeorge]

Any word on when PME will resupply, and from whom?

[Sasquatch]

Apparently they are buying through/with Big Ben, and if I remember right, it's out of Italy. No word on official "when" though.

[Sasquatch]

Another bump here, since PME is still basically stockless.

I finished with the Haume ebauchons. I didn't think much of them, to be honest. I got pipes out of most, but a lot of little sand pits and basically all the pipes had to be rusticated. I wasn't super pleased. Certainly you can't just grab a block and make a pipe of whatever shape you want without making some adjustments.

I got a package of XX plateaux, and it didn't even look that great on the site - my hopes were not real high, but I needed some briar. When I got it, I was pleasantly surprised to see that all the blocks were cut really well, with good grain and hardly any flaws showing. 5 pipes cut now, and I had one that had a fissure in it that just happened to be right near where I drilled the airway - if I had drilled 1/4" further over.... I never would have noticed it.

The other 4 were great.





The one I kept got a quick acrylic stem, and I've been smoking it this week, and it smokes great. It's excellent. So I've ordered another couple packs of XX grade and we'll see what shows up.

At any rate, I would only recommend the ebauchons for practice, but I'm very happy with the XX plateaux.

I also got some briar from JH Lowe, and it's good smoking stuff, and works nicely, but the grain ranges from wonderful to "what the hell am I supposed to make with this?". The pieces are pretty large, and require a bit of re-cutting to find the good bits, but in general, there's a lot of core/heart and weird grain in the bigger plateuax.

[e Markle]

Another bump here, since PME is still basically stockless.

I stopped by PME the other day, and Carolyn said she should be getting some briar in any day now. I believe she ordered more Tuscan, but in talking with her it sounded like it would be cheaper than their last batch of "Tuscan" blocks.