Briar question

[ghe]

After briar has been carved into a pipe, does age continue to improve the briar? Would the answer be the same if the pipe was unsmoked? In other words, if you have a 50-year-old briar pipe is the wood more or less equivalent to a 50-year aged briar slab from which a new pipe is carved?

[Mister Moo]

You asked a couple of questions. By implication, is older wood inherently better and/or is aged wood better?

Part of an answer - hearsay: Word on the street is, there was better briar to select from 50-years ago than there is now. I have been told that older briar offered better smoking characteristics than current wood. I have nothing to back this up. It might be traditional internet claptrap. Go wash your hands after reading this.

Somebody told me that, back in the day, more oil-cured briar pipes were shipped which, they say, makes a better smoking wood. Heresay again. I have one oil cured briar from the '60s and it smokes like a dream. Anecdotal horsehockey, that is. Slightly less claptrap but totally anecdotal.

[The Pirate]

This is a never ending argument because it is so subjective. I have read that the briar does not continue to age after it has been cut. I have also read that the advantage of the oil curing process loses it's advantage after about 30 smokes. I am not sure of the validity of either of these statements. I also read that most of the briar used today is only 5 or 10 years old. Don't know if that is a fact either. I must admit that I enjoy Custombilts and Marxman Jumbos and have never had a bad smoke in either. They are usually at least 30 years old. All of which proves absolutely nothing.
Ken

[mclayton]

Well the entire purpose of oil curing- correct me if im wrong- is to extract even more of the tannins out of the wood, right?

[ghe]

Thanks for the information. It seems that the effects of age on briar is not a simple issue. I really appreciate your thoughts.