Finally... a Ferndown. A pair, in fact!

While I admire the artistry of the many wonderful high grades out there, I've always preferred the classic shapes as actual smoking tools. I've had a modest collection of about 10-12 decent pipes for many years now, about half of them Petersons, plus a couple of Dunhills, an Ashton, and some others. But I had never pulled the trigger on a Ferndown for some reason. A couple weeks ago I was visiting my old haunt, The Smoke Shop in Annapolis, which is closing soon. The owner is retiring after decades of success, so I'm happy for him of course, but still very sad to see the place go. Considering the sentimentality of the occasion, it seemed like a great time to take advantage of the 50% off sale on pipes! Francis has never moved a lot of high-grades in the shop, so there were a pair of Ferndowns just beckoning me with the opportunity of "saving" hundreds of dollars. Both were lovely, but I exercised noble restraint and chose only the huge 3* Bark Canadian:



(I just took the pic tonight, but it was new at the time.) Compared to the Group 4-5 pipes I usually smoke, this thing is huge - a hair over 7 inches. Here's a comparison next to a Group 4'ish Peterson, and a bowl shot:





It was busy after returning from Annapolis and this sure isn't a clench-while-you-work type of pipe, so it was another week before christening it with some Escudo. The wait did not disappoint... it's got a nice, open draw, feels great in hand, and smoked beautifully cool and smooth for a brand-new pipe. I've smoked it about 4-5 times now, and I'm confident it's going to be a fantastic smoker for my usual Virginia-based blends - though the pipe is huge, the bowl is only a Group 4-5 with nice thick walls. And its sheer size means I won't smoke the tar out of it like I do with my workhorse Petersons.
Man... these Ferndowns are good stuff, I'm thinking. Where have they been all my life? And why didn't I buy that other one at the Smoke Shop? Shortly thereafter, I was browsing SP's estates page on a lark - I usually only review their new pipes - and felt the call of a smashing, unsmoked 3* Root Bulldog:



(Original SP page with more pics here.) It took me all of about 30 minutes to convince myself I needed it. Despite my love of classic shapes, my only bulldogs were a beat-up old Comoy's estate and an ancient basket pipe, neither of which were great smokes. It arrived a few days ago, and I'm just finishing up its first bowl with GLP's Westminster as I type. Fantastic. I'm not a regular Latakia smoker, but the big bowl and classic styling of this bulldog seem perfect for classic English blends. So I'm going to reserve this one for my occasional Latakia smokes, which I'm increasingly looking forward to.
I've read some mixed reviews of Ferndowns out there on the web, with a number of people complaining about poor draws or other engineering problems. But these two pipes, for my tastes at least, are incredible. I think they'll easily be better smokers than my Dunhills with a little time. I definitely recommend giving the brand a try if you haven't done so.
I simply couldn't be happier with these. A parting shot of the pair:

It must have been the same one, ssjones - I can't imagine Francis had multiple big Ferndown Canadians pass through the shop in less than a year. Those pipes in his display case never moved very quickly. If you're in the area, you might still be able to stop in - Francis indicated that he'd probably stick around through most of October cleaning up shop. It already seemed pretty well cleaned out by the time I was there a couple weeks ago, but it might be nice to chat with Francis if you knew him well.