I have built several rods on R.L. Winston blans and have found them to be of the highest quality. They have excellent customer service and were most helpful in providing guide spacing charts and any other technical information I needed.

I don't seem to be able to find cork that is as high quality as the cork that comes with the stock rods. You might see if you can get the required handle from them. Winston seems to have the clearest most defect free cork of all the major rod makers.