Hello all
I think I'm getting all the pipe musings I've been forced to keep to myself since my pipe-smoking colleague went to Canada in ths summer!
Since moving to work in China, I have been forced (?) to acquire a second pipe collection. The one I have in my storage facility at home in Scotland is very decent and at some point I will gratefully be re-acquainted with it. In some ways I have been very lucky as I now have two respectable collections with very different characters. My "Home Collection" is full of classics from Northern Europe- Comoys, Bjarnes etc- but the pipe seller in my current city (Suzhou, Jiangsu) has decided to sell only two classifications of pipes, vis run-of-the-mill, work-a-day Savs and Chacoms, and very high end Italian Artisanal briars. The way he has set up his store you feel a bit of a cheapskate if you pay less than $500 and you can pay up to $1,500. Now this makes perfect business sense as there is a lot of new money in my city and a lot of new pipists and/or collectors who, being new to things, just assume that this is how much a decent pipe inevitably costs. I have noticed on two of my recent pipes, a Radice Rind Billiard and a gorgeous little Don Carlos rusticated billiard, that the draw is far more open than I am used to, closer to that of a Castello than a classic English pipe. While this facilitates things at the top of the bowl I have found that I become wary during the bottom third, since I have several times drawn ash into my mouth at the very end. Of course, these are wonderful pieces, tasty, cool and dry, but this draw-width seems to be un-necessary to me and it could be argued lends a certain thin-ness or tart quality to a blend, meaning I now smoke meatier tobaccos in them. Last night, after looking at every single piece in the shop, I bought a lovely litle Chacom Festival square panel billiard, very similar to a 1970s Dunhill Tanshell. One of the reasons I decided to buy this pipe was the tight draw and very precise drilling. The stem was also perfct in fit and proportion for my tastes. I smoked two coins of DNR, rubbed out and for an hour or so I experienced an entirely hsssle-free, cool and satisfying smoke, with nothing to worry about at the end. It all felt very familiar and made me ponder this aspect of pipe design.
What kind of draw does the membership prefer and why please? Has this preference change through time?
I think I'm getting all the pipe musings I've been forced to keep to myself since my pipe-smoking colleague went to Canada in ths summer!
Since moving to work in China, I have been forced (?) to acquire a second pipe collection. The one I have in my storage facility at home in Scotland is very decent and at some point I will gratefully be re-acquainted with it. In some ways I have been very lucky as I now have two respectable collections with very different characters. My "Home Collection" is full of classics from Northern Europe- Comoys, Bjarnes etc- but the pipe seller in my current city (Suzhou, Jiangsu) has decided to sell only two classifications of pipes, vis run-of-the-mill, work-a-day Savs and Chacoms, and very high end Italian Artisanal briars. The way he has set up his store you feel a bit of a cheapskate if you pay less than $500 and you can pay up to $1,500. Now this makes perfect business sense as there is a lot of new money in my city and a lot of new pipists and/or collectors who, being new to things, just assume that this is how much a decent pipe inevitably costs. I have noticed on two of my recent pipes, a Radice Rind Billiard and a gorgeous little Don Carlos rusticated billiard, that the draw is far more open than I am used to, closer to that of a Castello than a classic English pipe. While this facilitates things at the top of the bowl I have found that I become wary during the bottom third, since I have several times drawn ash into my mouth at the very end. Of course, these are wonderful pieces, tasty, cool and dry, but this draw-width seems to be un-necessary to me and it could be argued lends a certain thin-ness or tart quality to a blend, meaning I now smoke meatier tobaccos in them. Last night, after looking at every single piece in the shop, I bought a lovely litle Chacom Festival square panel billiard, very similar to a 1970s Dunhill Tanshell. One of the reasons I decided to buy this pipe was the tight draw and very precise drilling. The stem was also perfct in fit and proportion for my tastes. I smoked two coins of DNR, rubbed out and for an hour or so I experienced an entirely hsssle-free, cool and satisfying smoke, with nothing to worry about at the end. It all felt very familiar and made me ponder this aspect of pipe design.
What kind of draw does the membership prefer and why please? Has this preference change through time?