Meerschaum Lined Pipes
pwkarch
Master
I do not own a true Meerschaum Pipe, although I do have two "smallish" Kaywoodies that are Meerschaum lined. I also have never smoked a real Meerschaum pipe before.
My question to my learned fellow pipers, would a bowl smoked from a real meerschaum bowled pipe taste much different? Does the lined pipes pretty much mimic the full meerschaum bowl experience?
My question to my learned fellow pipers, would a bowl smoked from a real meerschaum bowled pipe taste much different? Does the lined pipes pretty much mimic the full meerschaum bowl experience?
Comments
pw,, as long as the meerschaum used in the briar pipe was block meerschaum, instead of pressed meerschaum, (think particleboard) you should get a quality smoke. Pressed meerschaum pipes tend to be heavy, so it stands to reason that a company could make a meerschaum lined pipe, and it not be heavy enough to know the difference. The fact that your pipes are Kaywoodies, leads me to believe you have quality meerschaum in both pipes.
The thing about block meerschaum, is that you get no flavor from the pipe. That's why a lot of pipe smokers like to sample blends in block meerschaum, and then also try them in briar, and cobs, to see what the blends taste like in different pipe material. Clays are the same as meerschaum, in that they allow you to sample the true tobacco flavor.
I did some deep research into meerschaum pipes a few years ago and from what I read, there are a lot of antique meerschaum pipes out there which were made from pressed meerschaum at the end of the 19th and early part of the 20th century. My understanding is that they were cheaper than block meerschaum when they were made. I think they may have been made differently back then also because as the year passed the method and glues used changed. The important thing is that pressed meerschaum is not something which was "invented" in the 1950s.
I have heard people say pressed meerschaum pipes taste differently than block meerschaum. I don't personally put much stock in this. I have smoked at least one and didn't really noticed any strange taste or difference in the smoking quality. What I did find interesting is that the only meerschaum pipes I have had that cracked were pressed meerschaum. I was surprised because you would think that the glue with add strength.
With a meerschaum lined pipe it should smoke the same as a block meerschaum.
There is also a third category of meerschaum out there - cultured meerschaum. Cultured meerschaum from my understanding is "grown" artificially. It provides the opportunity for quality as block meerschaum. Whether it does or not I can't answer because I don't have a pipe made from the cultured meerschaum. I would hazard to guess that it is similar to diamonds - there are real diamonds and then there are synthetic diamonds that are still diamonds but are valued for industrial applications as opposed to jewelry. They now market artificial or synthetic diamonds on the jewelry market now and the only way to tell the difference is by a spectoscope.
Thank you Senior Chief.......interesting