Probably not a whole lot of difference in the case of the MM; they smoke about as good as any pipe. With the baskets, you could probably do better in terms of smokemanship with a Savinelli or another similar premium pipe. I don't know why but my Savinelli and Dunhill do smoke better than my basket pipes. One other factor to consider is the resale market... if you decide to give it up, you can get something out of your premium pipe, whereas the outlook is not so good for a basket pipe.