Yesterday morning we dropped our dog off at the vets for his monthly bath and tune up, so my wife and I decided to take a road trip down to Jackson to The Country Squire Tobacco Shop. We really like this place as it's an actual pipe shop! Jon let us try some new blends he had, and we were just relaxing, smoking and talking with a couple of customers there. After a while, we got up to look at some of the new pipes they'd gotten in and check out the estate pipes too. I wasn't looking to buy a pipe, just some tobacco, but my wife picked up this odd little pipe out of the estate tray. She pronounced that she loved it! I looked at it and could not understand who the maker was, I'd never heard of the name, or words stamped on the shank. I asked Jon about it, and he said it came in with some estate pipes they bought and really didn't know what it was. No country of origin on it, so I figured it might be US made. It also appeared to have never been smoked either. Well, my wife seldom buys pipes, and it was in the budget at $50, so she got it and some Drew Estate "Grand Central" that one of the guys there let her get a whiff of.
So the pipe is a Malaga, and is stamped Ras Kassa too, that's it. A little research showed that Malaga pipes were artisan made pipes by an Armenian named George Khoubesser. He opened his business in Royal Oak, Michigan in 1939. His son Emmanuel (Manny) took over eventually until 1981, then other family members until they closed in 1999. The "Ras Kassa" I guess was stamped on their higher quality pipes. According to an old brochure I found on line, they also oil cured their briar AFTER the pipe was carved, their own secret oil process was used. All I know is that the pipe has flawless briar, nice grain, and a very odd shape including some rustication on the bowl top and a uniquely shaped stem. It's not very big but does have a decent size bowl. My wife tried it last night and said she was glad she got it. This brings her meager pipe collection up to 7 pipes, that she says she loves and will never get rid of. Ok then... :roll: In that regard, she's way better than me!
Anybody here have any experience with these pipes, or knows more about them, I would be interested to hear.
So the pipe is a Malaga, and is stamped Ras Kassa too, that's it. A little research showed that Malaga pipes were artisan made pipes by an Armenian named George Khoubesser. He opened his business in Royal Oak, Michigan in 1939. His son Emmanuel (Manny) took over eventually until 1981, then other family members until they closed in 1999. The "Ras Kassa" I guess was stamped on their higher quality pipes. According to an old brochure I found on line, they also oil cured their briar AFTER the pipe was carved, their own secret oil process was used. All I know is that the pipe has flawless briar, nice grain, and a very odd shape including some rustication on the bowl top and a uniquely shaped stem. It's not very big but does have a decent size bowl. My wife tried it last night and said she was glad she got it. This brings her meager pipe collection up to 7 pipes, that she says she loves and will never get rid of. Ok then... :roll: In that regard, she's way better than me!
Anybody here have any experience with these pipes, or knows more about them, I would be interested to hear.
.gif)
