Favorite Italian Pipes

[samuelgawith01]

My favorite Italian?.........Castello / Savinelli Giubileo D’Oro / Old production Caminetto / Baldo Baldi

 

[cortezattic]

Rinaldo and Ardor, for me.

This Stefano Santambrogio is still a little green, but I think it's gonna become a fine pipe in due time.

Oh! I could go on... this Il Ceppo is a grand, comfortable pipe too!

 

[seacaptain]

I had a Savinelli Giubileo D’Oro 313. I ended up getting rid of it because it was kind of small, but it was the best smoking pipe I've had, and I've had a couple of Dunhills before too. Right now my best pipe is a Savinelli 315KS Monsieur sandblast.

 

[uperepik]

L’Anatra

 

[Chasing Embers]

Don Carlos

Savinelli

 

[tschiraldi]

Castello, Castello, and Castello. I also like Ascorti, Radice, and Regina Scarlatta pipes, but Castello reigns supreme!

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Castello, Radice and Moretti. The old Caminetto and Ascorti aren't all the best looking but are smoking beasts.

 

[coyja]

Savinelli Punto Oro Corallo

 

[aquadoc]

Beautiful Savinelli collection. And that Santambrogio is also sharp. I bought an estate but it is still in transit. I know nothing about them.

 

[lochinvar]

It's either Rinaldo or Castello, They both smoke effortlessly.

 

[thomasw]

Cavicchi or Castello pipes ... to paraphrase the Cookie Monster, a "C" is good enough for me!

 

[mso489]

I have a number of Savinelli (and Rossi made by Sav) from unfinished and low-end into the medium and upper range, great quality for each price point, in my opinion. Five or more are gifts or in one case a pipesmagazine/smokingpipes caption contest prize. My highest end Italian pipe is a Ser Jacopo, which is an elegant blast with a nicely open draw, a real luxury. I have a nifty Gianni smooth bent briar with a sturdy stem and shank that makes a good pocket pipe, unlikely to get snapped. My wife bought me my first churchwarden, a Sav 601, and my only Oom-Paul/Hungarian, a Sav Hercules. One of my wife's gift was a Sav 673 Opera bulldog, a great shape beautifully finished. I think I have more Sav's than any other brand or artisan pipes.

 

[tbradsim1]

Sav Estella pipes, here's mine, not a bad smoker in the bunch.

 

[mso489]

brad', great cookers and plenty of them.

 

[cigrmaster]

Bradley, nice load of Estellas.
When I owned a bunch of Italian pipes, Castello, Radice and the older Caminetto's were my favorites.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I'm a Beckerhead, ha ha. I love Paolo Becker's designs and attention to detail, plus they smoke amazingly well, like Ferrari's of the pipes. I have three, these pictured were bought new, and are my favorites. I have one more that was an estate, and I am still in the honeymoon phase with it. She seems to have come with some ghosts and baggage that we need to get worked out. And, there is one more that I am courting to see if I want to pull the trigger. Both pictured are made of strawberrywood, which is type of briar that has a very neutral flavor. The first is a scoop shape that I just love for sampling Virginias, especially my own crops and blends, but I always taste every Virginia I smoke in this one before stocking up or whatever... The second is my favorite driving pipe, especially if I am headed out for the day with my suit and tie on. It really likes the VaPers, or I guess I should say I like VaPers in it.

Yeh, so I like to photograph my pipes for instagram, ha ha.
But, Castellos and Radice bring up a close runner up for me, and I love my bulldogs in these makes. Ardor and savinellis, Regina Scarlotta... well, all of my Italian pipes are favorites. But, my Beckers... I just love them pipes.

 

[balkisobrains]

I really like my new Brebbia Fat Bob and Jumbo as smoking pipes. I've fired up the Fat Bob a couple times recently as the weather has gotten warmer. Nice Fat Bob smokers can be found new for under $100 if you get a rusticated one from overseas. Ask for full pics, because I saw one out there for sale with no bowl pics in the ad, and what do you know, terrible drilling that I had to pass on. Mine have good drilling.
::

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Balkis, I have had my eye on those Fat Bobs. I really think I would like one of those, but I will definitely have to ask to see the drilling. Thanks for letting us know about that.

 

[balkisobrains]

One thing is that if you buy Brebbia from a dealer overseas and it needs warranty attention, you have to send if back overseas to the dealer. If you get one from a dealer over here, the pipes usually cost more, but you can send them back within the states if it needs warranty attention. I broke my rule of trying not to buy more from overseas with these, but they turned out to be good mechanically in terms of smoking. The Fat Bobs are usually 9mm filter pipes, so maybe not for everyone.

 

[bazungu]

My favorite Italian pipe is the one my wife bought for me when we visited Rome earlier this year from Massimo Musico (foundation line). I spend about 2 afternoons in his store and he just told stories about every pipe I picked up. The man himself just lives and breathes pipes, the amount of thought and artistry he puts inside each pipe is truly astonishing. I can highly recommend everyone to go visit his store if one is visiting Rome. I finally decided on a straight grained plateaux rim Dublin, while I am not a fan of plateaux rims this pipe just really sang to me. He told me he wanted to balance that perfect straight grain with a more wavy, rough rim. He was friendly to give me a pipe pouch from when he was still working in cooperation with Becker. Interestingly, and I think especially for people who are lovers of vulcanite stems (Like Harris), he is one of the few Italian makers who only uses vulcanite stems(and also horn) as he is more influenced by the English style of pipe making, and this specific pipe seems to have the most comfortable bit of all my pipes! Very underrated pipe maker I believe.

It is dedicated to only smoke HU foundation Indaba.

Also I recently purchased this Jacono and it is absolutely stunning, love his style of rustication and it proves to be a great smoker as well. It is a bit too heavy to clench but it feels lovely inside the palm of your hand with the rugged texture. Cannot wait to see the colour slowly change over time.