I keep thinking my Aristocrat is broken, its such a let down and I should've let it alone and used it as a display piece. Rats!
For me, knot quality when measured against the cost of the brush. However, this brush has an extraordinarily beautiful Butterscotch handle. The vendor called the knot a "Blonde Badger", hand packed by a gentleman in the UK as I remember. It, for now, is a keeper due to the handle. Also, a number of folks who purchased the brush have very good, positive comments. Just not my favorite knot; I do not care for the feel on my face.
It's a keeper and a wonderful handle, allright! And although Sabini's knots are highly spoken of, there have indeed been reports of some of them being flawed or nothing out of the ordinary. Could be glue bumps, cf. Ken's recent emphasis on 'free loft'?