Mail Call !!

Mail came today and it was most anticipated. I placed an order last week with the ever so helpful gents at smokingpipes and they deliver yet again. Stellar service, quick delivery and perfectly packaged.
I ordered a Peterson pipe for myself, one for a friend, a leather carrying pouch and I had to try some Carter Hall!




For myself I Went ahead and ordered the XL14. a "dublin edition" that is smooth and sports a quite dark stain. some birdseye and grain with personality



Now since this is a Peterson and we're all aware of some of their issues I looked down the shank and sure enough there was some stain to be removed. A whole plate of pipecleaners and a good shot of cask strength Auchentoshan later I was pleased with the looks of it. I also managed to kind of chip of a bit of the bowl coating when I ran some cleaners through to the bottom of the bowl but I decided not to remove the rest. It came off looking a bit like spiderweb.




Given that I soaked it in whisky the tenon won't quite fit back into the mortise so they'll have to rest apart for the night but tomorrow they'll be friends again and I hope to get in the premier smoke.

The pouch is great, really soft pliable leather and holds a pouch of tobacco aswell as the rather large xl14. It's not a huge pipe, not too long, but the chamber is massive! An evening of smoking if I were to fill it up. ::

Hehe I'm way ahead of you ben88 I already thought about that. It is as you suspect. There is no lining in the leather so yes, I will need to put some kind of regular plastic pouch in. That's the reason I ordered the Carter Hall and not something in bulk. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box and found a minimal "luxury pouch" haha :laughat:
It does feel very good Cortez! I'm looking forward to smoking it for the first time this weekend. I was not going to do a whole tedious break in filling the bowl quarters at a time but this will probably be done since the bowl is massive.

A pic from the inaugural smoke. The pipe smokes great and I'm loving the Carter Hall. Mild real tobacco flavor with a sweet note in the background.