fishnbanjo
Broken Pipe
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Since I own seven Morta Pipes I thought it would be a good idea to discuss a bit about what Morta is, how it differs to briar, both as a base for a pipe and smoking wise.
So what exactly is Morta? Morta, or Bog Oak. comes from dead Oak trees which have fallen into a bog, or similar environment, and have spent anywhere from 1000-10,000 years in the soup of the bog which gives the Morta its distinct coloration. The colors recognized are from blue grey over green grey to deep black, there are also brown and copper colored and a combination of grey, brown and black, very few are red or blue which I have not seen a pipe made with as yet but there probably will be at some point.
Bog Oak stands for Fossil European Oak or Sessile Oak, which have lain in bog for centuries. Stored in bog, the tannic acid of the wood reacts with the marsh gases of the bog, whereby such wood changes its color extremely. Understand the closer it becomes to fossilization the blacker it gets as it will turn to coal if given enough time to fossilize.
What I have learned through reading is that Bog Oak is available throughout Europe with Croatia, Ireland, England, Germany and Italy being the major sources, I'm sure there are more but these are the ones I see most of the Morta pipe makers make reference to. Recently Morta from Lake Michigan has surfaced and while not being a bog the conditions are similar in what happens to the wood and will be interesting to see if any more pipes are made from it then the one I saw that sold quickly, it was darker than the copper Morta yet lighter than the brown Morta I have seen.
So how does Morta differ from briar, Meerschaum, clay, corn cobs and even rock pipes? Well simply put Morta like Meerschaum, clay and rock pipes (pipe stone or soapstone) smoke neutral, i.e. one gets a purer sense on the palate, and the snork, of the tobacco than one gets from a briar or a cob. Morta can smoke much hotter than the others as well but setting it down finds it cools much quicker as well. It's light and generally the pipes made from it are much larger than their briar counterparts and the bowls much smaller as well since they do smoke hotter but have the ability to be smoked again as soon as they are cool enough with no issue so they make a great companion if one were traveling and could only bring 1 or 2 pipes.
Now that we've gone through a bit of the history of Morta and how it differentiates between some of the more common vessels used for pipe bowls let's see how different Morta pipes smoke against the others in my collection. For the purpose of the Smoke Off I did not smoke anything other than Anniversary Kake or a light VA in other pipes over the two days it took to complete this and I did it with the outside temperature being relatively equal except for the first smoke which ended up being a rather windy period.
The seven pipes I smoked were smoked using 6 y/o Anniversary Kake from the same jar housed in the same pouch so as to not taint the outcome:
A Chris Askwith Rhodesian, from England, with Olivewood Cap and white stem was the first pipe smoked and here is a photo and the results.
The smoke in the Askwith Rhodesian took 45 minutes with mostly white pillow like puffs the first 1/2 of the bowl with a nice mild and cool smoking experience. From the second half of the bowl on there was decidedly more spiciness to the smoke yet still cool and the smoke thinned a bit to a blueish grey with the admittance of Perique was there in the background. The smoke ended w/o the need to relight simply the char light was sufficient and a mere few shards of moist dottle and moisture were found after it had gone out. Clearing the dottle with a pick was quick and what moisture that was observed in the bottom of the bowl dissipated within 30 seconds, an excellent smoke and a quick run through with the pipe cleaner produced a very light tan coating with no moisture.
A Davorin Denovic, from Croatia, Rustic Freehand Bent with Field Maple end cap.
The Denovic finished its smoke in 40 minutes with mostly medium billows of blueish grey smoke throughout the entire bowl, like the previous smoker it needed no further lighting after the initial one. The first 1/3 was a lovely taste of VA and migrated toward some spiciness into the next 1/3 with a dominant taste of Perique which lasted about 5 minutes into the last 1/3 then settled down into a lovely combination of spice and great tobacco flavors. The finish was met with clean grey ash and minimal moisture in the bowl which dissipated in 15 seconds. A pipe cleaner ran through came out a medium brown with no moisture.
A Moretti Freehand Rusticated, from Italy, with Bone colored end cap.
The Moretti smoked in 40 minutes with large billowy puffs of whitish grey smoke throughout and required only the initial lighting. The first 1/3 of the bowl was soft and luscious VA then notes of cinnamon crept in with the palate experience being like a wonderfully deep red burgundy and the snork sense continuing to cinnamon and developing to toasted nutmeg. Spiciness abundant in the next 1/3 with a deeper palate of dark red burgundy continuing through the second 1/3 of the bowl. The final 1/3 of the bowl was a dance of flavors from the spice to the wine then mellowing to just a delicious tobacco ending with a whitish grey ash with no dottle nor moisture in the bowl, a swipe with the pipe cleaner revealed a deeper tan color with no moisture.
A Tom Richard, from Germany, Rusticated Freehand with Boxwood end cap and Cumberland Stem.
The Richard smoked in 43 minutes with a light blue hue to white billows of smoke also required no lighting after initial. The taste of VA was predominate with the warmth of honey on the palate, the snork was true VA. It wasn't until the last 1/4 of the bowl did any hint of spice begin and it did not strengthen but continued to the end of the bowl which was left with no dottle just a clean whitish grey ash. Once the ash was removed there was nothing there but the bottom of the bowl and it was free of moisture, a quick run with a pipe cleaner gave a tan color and no moisture.
A Chris Askwith, I believe a Freehand Volcano Sitter but hopeful Chris will set that straight if he reads this, from England, with Mastodon Ivory end cap and White Stem.
The second Askwith smoked in 38 minutes with a light grey medium smoke, again no lighting beyond initial. The taste of VA was present and turned to a note of Fig on the palate with cinnamon in snork, eased its way into spicy which it finished with leaving a white grey ash, no dottle nor moisture evident in the bowl, the color of the pipe cleaner inserted and removed was light tan with no moisture
A Paulo Becker Maya Shape, from Italy, as Paulo puts it the name comes from "Maya desnuda" by Goya, with Chocolate colored stem and Smoky swirls.
The Becker smoked in 40 minutes with a medium grey smoke throughout with no lighting past the initial. The taste of VA was present after the first tamp and through to the middle of the bowl where some hints of cinnamon and other spices began then leveled off to spice on the palate and the snork and finishing with no dottle nor moisture in the bowl, a pipe cleaner ran through left residuals of dark and tan but no moisture
A Radice Chubby Morta AEROBilliard, from Italy, in collaboration with Luca di Piazza.
The AEROBilliard smoked in 35 minutes with no lighting beyond the initial, with huge puffy pillows of whitish grey smoke until the first tamp where it settled down to medium grey puffs. The initial note was cool and mild and the VA made its presence known on the palate and the snork. The palate note quickly changed to a rich red burgundy feel and the snork picked up hints of Cardamom and other spiciness. The wine note stayed the course on the palate with playful meanderings of VA, spice and pure tobacco on the snork with the final few minutes being wine, wine and more wine on the palate and the snork. There was no dottle nor moisture and a pipe cleaner picked up the lightest trace of coloring with no moisture
Well as you can see my experience differed some from pipe to pipe but not one of them was less than an outstanding smoke. I hope you found this helpful if a Morta pipe is something you've been thinking about and will happily answer any questions that I can, thanks for reading.
So what exactly is Morta? Morta, or Bog Oak. comes from dead Oak trees which have fallen into a bog, or similar environment, and have spent anywhere from 1000-10,000 years in the soup of the bog which gives the Morta its distinct coloration. The colors recognized are from blue grey over green grey to deep black, there are also brown and copper colored and a combination of grey, brown and black, very few are red or blue which I have not seen a pipe made with as yet but there probably will be at some point.
Bog Oak stands for Fossil European Oak or Sessile Oak, which have lain in bog for centuries. Stored in bog, the tannic acid of the wood reacts with the marsh gases of the bog, whereby such wood changes its color extremely. Understand the closer it becomes to fossilization the blacker it gets as it will turn to coal if given enough time to fossilize.
What I have learned through reading is that Bog Oak is available throughout Europe with Croatia, Ireland, England, Germany and Italy being the major sources, I'm sure there are more but these are the ones I see most of the Morta pipe makers make reference to. Recently Morta from Lake Michigan has surfaced and while not being a bog the conditions are similar in what happens to the wood and will be interesting to see if any more pipes are made from it then the one I saw that sold quickly, it was darker than the copper Morta yet lighter than the brown Morta I have seen.
So how does Morta differ from briar, Meerschaum, clay, corn cobs and even rock pipes? Well simply put Morta like Meerschaum, clay and rock pipes (pipe stone or soapstone) smoke neutral, i.e. one gets a purer sense on the palate, and the snork, of the tobacco than one gets from a briar or a cob. Morta can smoke much hotter than the others as well but setting it down finds it cools much quicker as well. It's light and generally the pipes made from it are much larger than their briar counterparts and the bowls much smaller as well since they do smoke hotter but have the ability to be smoked again as soon as they are cool enough with no issue so they make a great companion if one were traveling and could only bring 1 or 2 pipes.
Now that we've gone through a bit of the history of Morta and how it differentiates between some of the more common vessels used for pipe bowls let's see how different Morta pipes smoke against the others in my collection. For the purpose of the Smoke Off I did not smoke anything other than Anniversary Kake or a light VA in other pipes over the two days it took to complete this and I did it with the outside temperature being relatively equal except for the first smoke which ended up being a rather windy period.
The seven pipes I smoked were smoked using 6 y/o Anniversary Kake from the same jar housed in the same pouch so as to not taint the outcome:
A Chris Askwith Rhodesian, from England, with Olivewood Cap and white stem was the first pipe smoked and here is a photo and the results.
The smoke in the Askwith Rhodesian took 45 minutes with mostly white pillow like puffs the first 1/2 of the bowl with a nice mild and cool smoking experience. From the second half of the bowl on there was decidedly more spiciness to the smoke yet still cool and the smoke thinned a bit to a blueish grey with the admittance of Perique was there in the background. The smoke ended w/o the need to relight simply the char light was sufficient and a mere few shards of moist dottle and moisture were found after it had gone out. Clearing the dottle with a pick was quick and what moisture that was observed in the bottom of the bowl dissipated within 30 seconds, an excellent smoke and a quick run through with the pipe cleaner produced a very light tan coating with no moisture.
A Davorin Denovic, from Croatia, Rustic Freehand Bent with Field Maple end cap.
The Denovic finished its smoke in 40 minutes with mostly medium billows of blueish grey smoke throughout the entire bowl, like the previous smoker it needed no further lighting after the initial one. The first 1/3 was a lovely taste of VA and migrated toward some spiciness into the next 1/3 with a dominant taste of Perique which lasted about 5 minutes into the last 1/3 then settled down into a lovely combination of spice and great tobacco flavors. The finish was met with clean grey ash and minimal moisture in the bowl which dissipated in 15 seconds. A pipe cleaner ran through came out a medium brown with no moisture.
A Moretti Freehand Rusticated, from Italy, with Bone colored end cap.
The Moretti smoked in 40 minutes with large billowy puffs of whitish grey smoke throughout and required only the initial lighting. The first 1/3 of the bowl was soft and luscious VA then notes of cinnamon crept in with the palate experience being like a wonderfully deep red burgundy and the snork sense continuing to cinnamon and developing to toasted nutmeg. Spiciness abundant in the next 1/3 with a deeper palate of dark red burgundy continuing through the second 1/3 of the bowl. The final 1/3 of the bowl was a dance of flavors from the spice to the wine then mellowing to just a delicious tobacco ending with a whitish grey ash with no dottle nor moisture in the bowl, a swipe with the pipe cleaner revealed a deeper tan color with no moisture.
A Tom Richard, from Germany, Rusticated Freehand with Boxwood end cap and Cumberland Stem.
The Richard smoked in 43 minutes with a light blue hue to white billows of smoke also required no lighting after initial. The taste of VA was predominate with the warmth of honey on the palate, the snork was true VA. It wasn't until the last 1/4 of the bowl did any hint of spice begin and it did not strengthen but continued to the end of the bowl which was left with no dottle just a clean whitish grey ash. Once the ash was removed there was nothing there but the bottom of the bowl and it was free of moisture, a quick run with a pipe cleaner gave a tan color and no moisture.
A Chris Askwith, I believe a Freehand Volcano Sitter but hopeful Chris will set that straight if he reads this, from England, with Mastodon Ivory end cap and White Stem.
The second Askwith smoked in 38 minutes with a light grey medium smoke, again no lighting beyond initial. The taste of VA was present and turned to a note of Fig on the palate with cinnamon in snork, eased its way into spicy which it finished with leaving a white grey ash, no dottle nor moisture evident in the bowl, the color of the pipe cleaner inserted and removed was light tan with no moisture
A Paulo Becker Maya Shape, from Italy, as Paulo puts it the name comes from "Maya desnuda" by Goya, with Chocolate colored stem and Smoky swirls.
The Becker smoked in 40 minutes with a medium grey smoke throughout with no lighting past the initial. The taste of VA was present after the first tamp and through to the middle of the bowl where some hints of cinnamon and other spices began then leveled off to spice on the palate and the snork and finishing with no dottle nor moisture in the bowl, a pipe cleaner ran through left residuals of dark and tan but no moisture
A Radice Chubby Morta AEROBilliard, from Italy, in collaboration with Luca di Piazza.
The AEROBilliard smoked in 35 minutes with no lighting beyond the initial, with huge puffy pillows of whitish grey smoke until the first tamp where it settled down to medium grey puffs. The initial note was cool and mild and the VA made its presence known on the palate and the snork. The palate note quickly changed to a rich red burgundy feel and the snork picked up hints of Cardamom and other spiciness. The wine note stayed the course on the palate with playful meanderings of VA, spice and pure tobacco on the snork with the final few minutes being wine, wine and more wine on the palate and the snork. There was no dottle nor moisture and a pipe cleaner picked up the lightest trace of coloring with no moisture
Well as you can see my experience differed some from pipe to pipe but not one of them was less than an outstanding smoke. I hope you found this helpful if a Morta pipe is something you've been thinking about and will happily answer any questions that I can, thanks for reading.
