Does Some Briar Inherently Smoke Cooler?

[mtwaller]

I have two pipes for Va blends. A Peterson army mount which is well-seasoned, and a new Musico lovat which is not. The Musico is dainty and definitely thin walled compared to the Peterson which I’d say is solidly “average” sized.

I’ve been smoking the hell out of The Beast 2023 in both pipes (f***ing fantastic, by the way). Same packing, smoking cadence, weather conditions, same everything. The Pete will get toasty sometimes but the little Musico just won’t heat up.

I guess I’m curious if the quality of the block makes a difference, like the density or something changes smoking characteristics, or a block that is cured longer smokes cooler?

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Inherently, no. Do some pipes smoke cooker than others? Yes. Could be for any number of reasons.

 

[bullet08]

Sooner or later, most pipes smoke without burning your fingers. One Peterson, I only smoke Peterson, smoked hot. One day it stopped doing that. But it never overheated when smoking Latakia blends. Va can burn hotter than Lat.

 

[sablebrush52]

Briar, being an organic substance, will have variations, including variations in density, etc. Some of my pipes do seem to smoke a little cooler than others, using the same blend, packing, cadence, etc. It might be some characteristic of the briar, or something about the way the internals were constructed. It's just one of those little mysteries.

 

[Grangerous]

The greater factor is the tobacco. The type, cut, dryness and manner of packing and drawing. You may “feel” a thin walled pipe’s heat before a thicker walled pipe, but the former has more to do with it than the pipe.

 

[mtwaller]

Thanks for the replies, gents. I guess it’s something that can’t readily be quantified, though I wish it could! I was really nervous buying such a tiny pipe, and I was practically wincing in anticipation of having my fingerprints burned off when firing up the first bowl. I guess thin walled pipes are still a crap shoot.

 

[Briar Lee]

During World War Two the free world sought a replacement for the burls from Heather shrubs that grow on the rim of the Mediterranean and could not find any that equaled genuine briar.

A Goldilocks combination of soil and climate, makes only Mediterranean briar good for pipes, and of those the best smoking (although rarely beautiful) was from Algeria before their war of independence.

This $15 Marxman Jumbo B in the mail to me will not only be an extremely cool smoker, almost as if made of asbestos, it will somehow impart or enable a hearty, rich, full, and zesty taste to any blend I smoke in it.

I’ve tried to reason out why, pre 54 Algerian briar pipes smoke so well, and it’s like trying to understand why tobacco grown in Cuba is the best for cigars. It just, is so. Try a pre 54 Marxman (or other genuine Algerian briar pipe) to discover how good a briar can smoke.

For about seventy years now, pipe makers tout how hard and beautiful grained their wares are.

Real Algerian briar was soft and sort of plain in most examples. That’s often charitable, for the best smoking Algerian seems to have been outright ugly, full of pits, and so soft and porous it will color while you watch it.

I’ve heard, that if you marry an ugly woman you’ll be happy for life.

I can’t say I followed that sage wisdom.

But it’s true about Algerian briar, I can testify.

 

[Hillcrest]

I agree with above comments it depends on the pipe but it seems you musico has a thicker carbon build up than the peterson ... that also could help cool the outside of the pipe. It also could be that the musico is more porous and the heat dissipates faster. Also smaller burning ember. etc ...