My first Missouri Meerschaums

[boo909]

Thanks to the advice of a few lovely people on here I've just received my first cobs (and an Ozark), a Diplomat 5th Ave, a Country Gent and a Missouri Pride. Only smoked the Pride and the hardwood Ozark so far. Very, very happy with the Pride, what a wonderful pipe. Couple of questions on the others though.

Not too sure on the Ozark, was a little disappointed since everyone seems to love them, smokes great but the shank goes into the bowl far too high for me, there's at least a 2mm gap underneath where the shank enters the bowl, is this normal for them? It's going to take a hell of a lot of mud to sort it out isn't it?

One final thing, not such of a big problem but the Diplomat and CG I got aren't plugged, I'd read these models had all been plugged for years now, does this mean I bought very old stock (it wasn't from corncobpipe.com as I'm in Europe, it was smokingpipes.eu). As I said not such a big deal, I was just expecting them to have the plugs, if they smoke half as good as the Pride then I will be a happy camper. Should I use mud on them or is this not really worth it. I've smoked briars for years so all this is a bit new to me, any help would be appreciated.

 

[Kentos]

Not sure about the Ozark, but I think the Diplomat and CG always had the hardwood insert on the bottom. Can you post a pic of the bottoms?

 

[boo909]

Not sure about the Ozark, but I think the Diplomat and CG always had the hardwood insert on the bottom. Can you post a pic of the bottoms?

My mistake there sorry, it appears they do have plugs, but I was expecting the printed MM logo (I'd heard plugged had the logo unplugged had stickers)these have stickers and the plugs are way off center.

 

[boo909]

With the Ozark, I've removed the protruding shank and am about to mud it, that should solve all my problems with it.

 

[Mike H]

They switched from stamping the plugs to a yellow sticker a few years ago.

 

[boo909]

They switched from stamping the plugs to a yellow sticker a few years ago.

Thanks very much, I didn't realise that.

 

[boo909]

Absolutely loving this Missouri Pride, really suits my smoking style, really slow lazy sips, stays alight forever, I like my aromatics and cobs seem to be a good fit for that. I have to admit I'm from the AA Milne school of smokers, I'm a smoker rather than a collector, I smoke OTC tobaccos, unfortunately I'm from Europe, tobacco is expensive enough as it is without paying a premium for the good stuff. I'm ashamed to say I've been a smoker rather than a "careful keeper of pipes" also, I've smoked 5 briars and really treated them quite terribly for fifteen years:

...so a lot of this may be down to smoking from a decent clean pipe rather than the Ghosts of Tobaccos Past but it really is a wonderful smoke, I haven't even got round to the Diplomat and the Country Gentlemen yet.

The Ozark Mountain has been "de-shanked"

...but annoyingly I couldn't make enough pipe mud to fill the bowl with my dried up old Montecristo

...it needs a hell of a lot, think I may just go with fireplace mortar as cigars are not my native habitat, I'm really disappointed with the Ozark after all the good things I've heard about them, but I think once I've fixed it up it's going to be a great smoke.

(Going to maybe document my journey with these four pipes here if no one objects)

Missouri Magic with some Kentucky Bird

 

[KellyG]

Keep us updated! On my MM cobs I just smoke the protruding shank away.

 

[boo909]

Keep us updated! On my MM cobs I just smoke the protruding shank away.

That's what I'm doing with the cobs, the bottom of the shank seems to rest in the bottom of the bowl so it looks like when it burns away it will be fine, I may build up the bottom of the bowl at some point but they probably won't need it, the Ozark had about a 2mm gap underneath the shank though and on the first smoke I ended up digging a lot of unsmoked tobacco out. Maybe I got a snide one but they don't seem to be made to quite the same quality as the cobs (I think they are made for MM rather than by MM if my Google-fu is working?), though I've heard good things about them, I think they just need a little tlc before becoming a really good pipe.

 

[Kentos]

Absolutely loving this Missouri Pride, really suits my smoking style, really slow lazy sips, stays alight forever, I like my aromatics and cobs seem to be a good fit for that. I have to admit I'm from the AA Milne school of smokers, I'm a smoker rather than a collector, I smoke OTC tobaccos, unfortunately I'm from Europe, tobacco is expensive enough as it is without paying a premium for the good stuff. I'm ashamed to say I've been a smoker rather than a "careful keeper of pipes" also, I've smoked 5 briars and really treated them quite terribly for fifteen years:

...so a lot of this may be down to smoking from a decent clean pipe rather than the Ghosts of Tobaccos Past but it really is a wonderful smoke, I haven't even got round to the Diplomat and the Country Gentlemen yet.

The Ozark Mountain has been "de-shanked"

...but annoyingly I couldn't make enough pipe mud to fill the bowl with my dried up old Montecristo

...it needs a hell of a lot, think I may just go with fireplace mortar as cigars are not my native habitat, I'm really disappointed with the Ozark after all the good things I've heard about them, but I think once I've fixed it up it's going to be a great smoke.

(Going to maybe document my journey with these four pipes here if no one objects)

Missouri Magic with some Kentucky Bird

Canepipesmoker on YouTube has an experimental pipe mud made from plaster of Paris, powdered carbon and salt. I think it might work loads better than cigar ash, and healthier than fireplace mortar.

 

[Kentos]

Darn it’s canerodpiper lol. He calls it “pipe mortar”.

 

[boo909]

Canepipesmoker on YouTube has an experimental pipe mud made from plaster of Paris, powdered carbon and salt. I think it might work loads better than cigar ash, and healthier than fireplace mortar.

Yeah funnily enough I was looking at the video of that this afternoon, if I can get all the ingredients locally, I'll probably give that a go.

 

[Kentos]

Yeah funnily enough I was looking at the video of that this afternoon, if I can get all the ingredients locally, I'll probably give that a go.

I got as far as looking to buy some Plaster of Paris...they only have 5 pound boxes of the stuff, and I only need a couple tablespoons lol!

 

[boo909]

I got as far as looking to buy some Plaster of Paris...they only have 5 pound boxes of the stuff, and I only need a couple tablespoons lol!

Yeah that's partly my problem too and the price our local health food shop charges for activated charcoal made my eyes water

 

[boo909]

Had another two smokes with the Pride today, first one at cafe by the river in Cahors, next to the Devil's Tower on Pont Valentre, cool folk tale associated with this Pont Valentré - Wikipedia

I really wish I'd brought the CG for after dinner at the parents in-law though, the smoke was over far too quick. I've had six smokes I think, off of the Pride these past 2, 3 days (more than I'd normally smoke in one pipe, usually I'd switch) and it's holding up amazingly well, I have been wiping out the bowl after every smoke. I'm just really impressed by this little bugger, so tactile too, with the natural finish. The protruding stem in the bowl is burning down nicely it seems, just ashes left no unburnt tobacco, once the stem's burnt away I may reinforce the bottom of the bowl with a little pipe mud, because god damn it I like this pipe and I want to keep it around as long as possible.

Going to "force myself" to use the Diplomat or the CG tomorrow for a leisurely Sunday smoke, pics incoming I'm sure. (I should say, since this is ongoing, I made an error in the first post, I have a Diplomat Apple not a 5th Ave. Which I'm actually vaguely regretting now because the 5th Ave. looks a little like a larger Pride.)

 

[Kentos]

Had another two smokes with the Pride today, first one at cafe by the river in Cahors, next to the Devil's Tower on Pont Valentre, cool folk tale associated with this Pont Valentré - Wikipedia

I really wish I'd brought the CG for after dinner at the parents in-law though, the smoke was over far too quick. I've had six smokes I think, off of the Pride these past 2, 3 days (more than I'd normally smoke in one pipe, usually I'd switch) and it's holding up amazingly well, I have been wiping out the bowl after every smoke. I'm just really impressed by this little bugger, so tactile too, with the natural finish. The protruding stem in the bowl is burning down nicely it seems, just ashes left no unburnt tobacco, once the stem's burnt away I may reinforce the bottom of the bowl with a little pipe mud, because god damn it I like this pipe and I want to keep it around as long as possible.

Going to "force myself" to use the Diplomat or the CG tomorrow for a leisurely Sunday smoke, pics incoming I'm sure. (I should say, since this is ongoing, I made an error in the first post, I have a Diplomat Apple not a 5th Ave. Which I'm actually vaguely regretting now because the 5th Ave. looks a little like a larger Pride.)

You will be pleasantly surprised with the quality of the smoke from a cob I believe.

 

[boo909]

My Sunday smoke with the Diplomat Apple:

Lovely smoke, lasted me about an hour, really comfortable, could taste everything. I don't seem to be getting the "popcorn" taste that I've heard you get from new cobs, seems to me to just be a really clean pleasant smoke.

I was a little worried that they would be too open without the filter (I don't like filters*) but the draw is just about perfect.

And remember the Ozark?

It now looks like this:

Not the most elegant of jobs I know, the sodium silicate wasn't the easiest of substances to work with, very gloopy, but that could be because of the weather, it's very hot at the moment, I may put the tub in the fridge for a bit before I use it next time. I'm going to let it cure for a few days then run some sandpaper around the inside, clean it up then probably put a thin layer of pipe mud over the top. It's got a really nice weight to it now with all that gloop in the bottom. Not too heavy, just about right.

*I generally don't like filters but I have a couple of briars with the infamous stingers, I actually don't mind them, I'm generally a very slow smoker but I find that if I'm doing something at the same time as smoking I can smoke a bit hot and the stinger just helps regulate the draw. Or maybe I'm just used to them.

 

[boo909]

He's admittedly being a bit sniffy about the cob but I'm really enjoying a late night smoke with my Pride, a beer and a bit of Sherlock Holmes.

The Ozark is curing nicely by the way, doesn't quite look like so much of a hatchet job now it's dried a little bit.

 

[boo909]

The Ozark's cured rock hard, really happy with the mod, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Definitely my worst pipe, I really don't get the love for them, I suspected this with my first go on it, was hoping the mod might improve it but no, they just smoke like a cheap pipe, almost a novelty pipe, the taste is fine I had trouble keeping it alight but not too much, it smokes far too hot, and I'm a sipper, it took me almost 40 minutes to smoke a bowl but it still got extremely hot, I could possibly see how someone that has never smoked a briar could maybe like them, but then again, thinking about it I can't imagine anyone liking them, I mean no disrespect to MM with this their cobs are fantastic and really rival my briars but this is just an awful pipe and I haven't got on with it at all. I can't help feeling, considering the amount of love it gets, that maybe I'm missing something? I feel sure I must be. I'll keep having a go on it occasionally maybe it will just click.

 

[Enemygod]

I see lots of love for their cobs, but I haven't seen or hard much specifically regarding the Ozark myself. If you are interested in a cheap (under $40) briar that is awesome, then I would consider Morgan Bones. I do believe he has retailers overseas.