I recently bought a Brigham Chinook bulldog. Handsome little pipe, for sure, and I would tell you that the famous rock maple insert does alleviate bite and other woes, except I don't have that nasty problem, for whatever reason. I would say, though, that the Brig insert tends to muffle taste. For example, I enjoy the slight taste of milk chocolate in the background of Prince Albert, but the Brigham insert seems to absorb it. Another annoying thing about the inserts is that they are rough inside and rake little clumps of cotton off pipe cleaners. You'd be surprised how little cotton it takes to clog a Brigham insert and put a Stop! to an otherwise enjoyable smoke. There has to be some simple remedy to this problem, but so far I'm missing it. When a #£!¥#DYZ bit of steenkin' cotton isn't plugging up the airway, a Brigham is a serviceable pipe, I'd say. Pipes & Cigars is having a Brigham sale, I believe.
Added: I should add that the rock maple insert is very good at keeping the pipe dry. So there is less reason to use a pipe cleaner during the smoke. Maybe I just need to break the habit of automatically reaching for the cleaner every ten minutes or so.
Added 2/21: After a bit more experience, I'd say it's possible that my initial problem with cotton clogs in the Brigham insert was due to a defective insert. The original insert seemed to have some loose wood fibers inside the tube that aggressively stripped cotton fibers off cleaners. After swapping out that insert and using a thinner brand of cleaners, I haven't had the same clogging problem at all. Interestingly, my Brigham smokes very well and bone dry without the insert, though this seems to be a hack that undercuts the whole idea etcetera.
