Notes:  Here is the pipe from today's Pipe Blog post.   Fittingly for the first Ligne Bretagne of 2009, it's a very special piece, despite its rather traditional shape.  For many years I have been working, on the side, to develop a process of briar treatment that renders a "tuned" smoke - that is, a smoke that helps to accent specific types of tobacco.  I've made dozens of testers over the years, and eventually sold a few for private orders to buyers who really liked the flavor of the process, but this is the first one (IIRC) that I've posted for open sale on the site catalog.  The briar treatment is not a magic bullet or any marketing nonsense like that - What it does is to render a smoother and creamier flavor to Virginia tobaccos.  Simple and concise.  I find it takes the sharp edge off of biting Virginias and gives them a more blended flavor, though it does require a couple of smokes to break in.  In any event, I'm confident enough now in the process to start selling pipes treated this way, and here is the first!

As a pipe, it's a classic pencil-shanked billiard, with an unstained bowl showing off a gentle, ring-defining sandblast.