A couple of weeks ago I got a Serpent D polly plus an Eb tube. I am a 2 year whistler and usually play a Sindt, Generation or a Dixon, all relatively easy blowers. I like them. The whistle was also the first wind instrument I have played. The Polly that I have now, to me, in my humble opinion, is way too hard to blow to make it worthwhile to bother with. I know that there are several vocal board members who really like the Pollys, but when I try to play them I feel like my eardrums are going to blow out. (Hyperbole in last sentance). Your mileage may vary.
On the plus side the Polly is perfectly in tune.
Mike
It’s the “airy and gritty” part that’s making it hard for me to recommend something.
I don’t have it anymore, but my Grinter cocobolo D was a bit gritty sounding. At first I didn’t like this, but it grew on me. It also fits many of your other requirements.
-Brett
The Alba Q1 hits on every single point. The closest it comes to missing on one is the funky fipple plug material, but when it’s in your mouth nobody can see that! Fantastic whistle, and very reasonable in price.
Steven
Mike, that’s my biggest gripe with the original Brassy Polly - though, to be fair, it can accept a lot more air than it needs. If I try to play it like a Generation or other plastic-head whistle I work far too hard. If I approach it more like a Clarke original I do a lot better - it needs a focused stream of air, but the air demands are about like the Clarke. If I try to play it like a Gen, I wear myself out in short order, but if I use my “Clarke” technique I can play for hours.
But I’d heard that one of the design goals for the Sweet Polly was to reduce the perceived air demand. I’ll still probably get one (or a set like yours) just to see what the difference is, completest that I am. (Is yours a Sweet Polly or the original Brassy Polly design? I think he’s currently making both.)
But that’ll probably be my last Serpent high whistle for a while unless he changes the design again - I still want a Jerry-tweek Shaw D, an Alba Q1, and a Water Weasel set, too.
I don’t know for sure which one it is but I suspect it’s the Sweet Polly. I had one of the Brassy Pollys a while ago. I don’t see much difference between them. Maybe I would if I played them side by side.
Mike
An Abell or a Busman looks like your best bet but you might not get one gritty enough for your liking. Most of the whistles suggested, Syn and Burke for example, strike me as far to pure to qualify. An Overton easy blower, just ring Colin Goldie and tell him what you want, would probably be your safest bet. I can only imagine from the lack of a mention that people wrongly associate Overtons with high breath requirements in the sense of having daunting back pressure. Oh, they do take some warming if you live in a place with that sort of a climate, but surely this is a minor concern when the trade off might well be a whistle that is inferior in most major respects.
Oh a Grinter would be perfect, BTW.
I think I’ve found it: Reyburn. It uses a bit more air than might be optimal, but it’s handleable. There’s a little more push for the upper octave than I might have wanted, but it’s pretty easily adjustable to. The OXX OOO C-natural is a bit sharp, but can be underblown into tune. And there’s a OXX XXO C-natural that’s dead-on (just like my Shaw).
So, a few compromises, but I haven’t tried any high-end whistle that has the grit and pleasing airiness that this whistle does. And there’s no cheapie with as solid a tone – the Reyburn has no thinness or plasticky sound. Missed notes don’t have a nasty honk or squeal. It’s easy to play and fairly loud, but without harshness. I’ve experienced no clogging. It’s very tunable, with a long tuning slide. It’s handsome and simple looking, black and brass with no logos.
With this whistle for general use, my Whitecap for a pretty, quiet, pure sound, and my Shaw for the ultimate rough-and-tumble sound, I’ve got a pretty wide range covered.
Well I was gonna make a commercial post in the near future, but I guess this is a good place to start.
I have just completed a redesign of my high whistles and they are head and shoulders (in my opinion) above what I was making before. Mind you the others were very nice, but the new design is reeeeeeeally nice. They look indentical on the outside to the earlier version but the fipple has some very different stuff inside. The lower octave has a much rounder sound and very strong all the way down to the bell note. The upper octave is quieter and plays sweeter, a very good balance between octaves.
I’ve not shipped one yet, so who is gonna be first?
Be well
Ronaldo
BQ: I agree with everything you said about the Reyburn. I think it fits very well with what you were looking for in a whistle. I enjoy mine and look forward to trying his new model.
Tell us more so, is it the Delrin head, is it loud, does it take air, backpressure, price, waitinglist?
Peter, the new design (high D/C) looks identical to the earlier version on the outside, Delrin head, brass body. The difference is mainly in the purturbations and the way the air flows thru the instrument. New constrictions in the head and purturbation changes in the body. The tone has a “rounder” sound and stronger in the low end which is due to a reduction of air turbulence thru the instrument. Because of these changes in the head I have also resized and repositioned some of the toneholes in the body. The upper register plays sweeter and with less volume of air and has an improved balance in the transition area. I would say there is a slight increase in back pressure compared to the previous version, and I don’t have any comparisons to other makers instruments regarding the pressure. I would say this is a fairly loud instrument (I don’t have a Copeland to compare it to) and it would be an excellent session whistle.
Price is the same as the earlier version and at this time the wait is about 3-4 weeks. Today I’m working on updating my website so this new info will be up soon. I like this new version so well that I am going to offer it as my only high whistle (D/C) and delete the previous models.
Ronaldo
Thanks Ronaldo. Feeds 
the curiosity.