Rattrays - Old Perth (Black)

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1. Disappointing

   Posted by Mark Goode on 16th Mar 2016

   I've had this pipe for 3 or 4 weeks now, and I really should have returned it. I guess it's a bit late now.
   
   I bought it from GQ Tobaccos because their price was about £10.00 less than anyone else. It was an easy transaction and fast delivery, and my poor review should be taken as no criticism of GQ Tobaccos.
   
   The pipe comes in a sturdy white faux-leather box lined with black velvet. I've no idea why they should do this, in my experience pipes spend their lives in a wooden rack, and without this posh box Rattray could have knocked about a tenner off the price of the pipe.
   
   The pipe itself is very attractive, light, with the silver trim contrasting nicely with the black finish. The stem is acrylic, which looks nice but can be a little hard on the gnashers (but I guess that's just a matter of taste). The black finish is not a stain but a coating, paint or lacquer of some kind. It's not matt or gloss, but what was once called an 'eggshell' finish (and may still be).
   
   So far I'm delighted with the pipe, and load up with Red Rapparee for the first smoke.
   
   Within a few minutes it starts to gurgle like Leonardo Dicaprio's at the end of Titanic. I'm not a rookie pipe smoker, and I certainly didn't think I was smoking too hot or too fast - especially as I was breaking in a new pipe. I reached for a pipe cleaner to soak up the moisture. Ah, here's the problem: the pipecleaner won't go down the stem. It looks like the tenon is drilled off centre somehow, and the pipecleaner hits an obstruction. This is probably the cause of the condensation and the gurgle. I force the pipecleaner down a little further, but it's clearly never going to pass through the stem - either way. It's now stuck, and I have to wrap the end of the cleaner around my finger and pull hard to retrieve it. Eventually it emerges, the end stripped of fibres. A blow down the stem sends a few bits of fluff out of the other end. I resume my smoke.
   
   No I notice a few blisters appearing in the black coating. They're only the size of pinheads, but either the coating was applied badly or it can't tolerate high temperature very well. The bowl feels hot to the touch, obviously, but not painfully so. I'm breaking in a new pipe, so I'm aware that there's no carbon cake to protect the briar - I'm trying to smoke slowly and gently.
   
   After the pipe cools the blisters are still there and a pipe cleaner still won't go down the stem (and I do mean just the stem).
   
   This pipe cost me £100 less a penny. I accept that this is not White Spot territory, but a Peterson, Stanwell, Savinelli or a pipe from any of the 'cheap' brands would be finished better than this. Both the quality and the quality control are sadly lacking.
   
   Still, it is a very nice box it comes in.

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