To me their smooth pipes exhibit mediocre to excellent grain and are priced accordingly. In this they are no different than any other brand and certainly far superior to the grain on Dunhill
smooths.
I feel lauding the drilling and mechanics of pipes to be retailer's jargon to command their high prices. 95% of pipes are drilled well, and mechanics, whether or not put into the word stream by carvers, refers to what qualities I know not what. In fact the word probably lives on the forums by way of retailers who will say anything to make a sale. I have never had one person define what they mean by it.
But perhaps amongst carvers airway enhancement is their most closely held secret, and though it actually exists, we likely will never know.
To promote Castello and oil-cured pipes because of their taste makes absolutely no sense to me, as it will be gone within a half-dozen smokes.
Good morning, most respectfully if one were to take your observations at face value there would, absent aesthetics and ego, be no reason to smoke or collect Castellos or any other reasonably high end artisan pipe. I do think that Castello is widely known to have great, perfectly cured briar that is different than other makers and that making pipes with startling flame or straight grain is not, excepting high graded pipes in their upper lines, their general thrust. Certainly, the pipes are priced accordingly but Castello pipes are much more expensive at all levels than many other makers who produce beautifully grained pipes. Therefore, it must, i suggest be something else. If 95% of all pipes are drilled correctly then then a Castello might as well be a Grabow, Rossi, Molina or any number of other much more modestly priced pipes. As for the taste of the briar, not all smokers love cake in their pipes and, as a result, maintain bowls which have minimal carbonization. I have been a pipesmoker for almost 40 years and i do think that my Castello pipes, all well maintained, do taste differently and better than other of my pipes including even other high end pipes I own (and like) by Becker, Eltang, Radice and Dunhill. I do think that the Radice family does much better stem work, even in their acrylic lines, than Castello. I appreciate your viewpoint but can't fully agree. Hope you have a good rest of the weekend.
