Ok, so I'm approaching my half year mark with pipes. It's been an interesting journey so far, I've been working my way through different pipes and different tobacco's trying to figure out what I like.
For pipes, I love the prince shape. I'm not a huge smoker so the relatively shallow bowl of a prince is perfect for 20-30 minute smokes. I like longer pipes as well (150mm), so the prince fits that bill.
In the past few months, I've bought several other shapes, cutty (smokes way too hot), billiard (just can't smoke a whole bowl), dublin (love the shape but they either have a bowl too big or they are too short for my taste), and a brandy (like a large prince, too large in fact)
I found myself not smoking the other pipes or just not liking them at all. So, I dumped them and focused on the prince shape, specifically the sandblasted versions.
So, here's where I'm at so far.
1. Wessex Brown 612. This is a large price, bordering on an apple. Lorenzetti makes them for Wessex and this line has a hand cut cumberland stem. It's a well made pipe and seems to be an exceptional value for $70. The only draw back, no pun intended, is the draw. It's pretty tight for a large pipe and I prefer a wide open draw.
2. Chacom 862. Also rather on the large side for a prince. It's my second favorite pipe. It's well made and smokes well. An exceptional value in the $70 range.
3. Savinelli 313 Giubileo d'Oro. My best and most expensive pipe ($400). I love this pipe. It's so light, it's almost surprising when you pick it up. The only draw back is that it had that stupid 6mm filter thing, which I immediately tossed. I'm not sure if it's related to that or not, but the tenon is not rock solid tight in the mortise. It's not loose but after you smoke it, you can see a tiny gap between the stem and stummel. That's my only complaint about this pipe, and it's not really much of a complaint. I just wish it had the kind of stem work that Dunhill has.
4. Speaking of Dunhill, this is a 3407 Cumberland. Fit and finish and smokability are exactly what you'd expect with a Dunhill. It's probably my best smoking pipe. It's a great pipe but has fallen out of favor somewhat as of late since I've been smoking the larger pipes more often.
5. Here's the runt of the litter, a Comoy Pebble Grain 337. I picked this up new for $40. It's a great little pipe and smokes cooler than you'd expect since the walls are thinner than the others. Odd thing is, I can barely pass a pipe cleaner through the narrow draught hole, but it has a better draw than the Wessex. Ah, the mysteryies of pipe engineering.
Here they are in situ.
So, I'm currently looking at adding a Rattray Sir William 46, although that pipe seems to be larger than the Wessex, which I may not like. Plus, I hate the filter thing.
I wish I could find a Lorenzetti Titus 29. This looks like an awesome pipe.
If anyone has any suggestions for a sandblasted prince, let me know.
Feel free to discuss and most importantly, please post up your princes. :
:
For pipes, I love the prince shape. I'm not a huge smoker so the relatively shallow bowl of a prince is perfect for 20-30 minute smokes. I like longer pipes as well (150mm), so the prince fits that bill.
In the past few months, I've bought several other shapes, cutty (smokes way too hot), billiard (just can't smoke a whole bowl), dublin (love the shape but they either have a bowl too big or they are too short for my taste), and a brandy (like a large prince, too large in fact)
I found myself not smoking the other pipes or just not liking them at all. So, I dumped them and focused on the prince shape, specifically the sandblasted versions.
So, here's where I'm at so far.
1. Wessex Brown 612. This is a large price, bordering on an apple. Lorenzetti makes them for Wessex and this line has a hand cut cumberland stem. It's a well made pipe and seems to be an exceptional value for $70. The only draw back, no pun intended, is the draw. It's pretty tight for a large pipe and I prefer a wide open draw.
2. Chacom 862. Also rather on the large side for a prince. It's my second favorite pipe. It's well made and smokes well. An exceptional value in the $70 range.
3. Savinelli 313 Giubileo d'Oro. My best and most expensive pipe ($400). I love this pipe. It's so light, it's almost surprising when you pick it up. The only draw back is that it had that stupid 6mm filter thing, which I immediately tossed. I'm not sure if it's related to that or not, but the tenon is not rock solid tight in the mortise. It's not loose but after you smoke it, you can see a tiny gap between the stem and stummel. That's my only complaint about this pipe, and it's not really much of a complaint. I just wish it had the kind of stem work that Dunhill has.
4. Speaking of Dunhill, this is a 3407 Cumberland. Fit and finish and smokability are exactly what you'd expect with a Dunhill. It's probably my best smoking pipe. It's a great pipe but has fallen out of favor somewhat as of late since I've been smoking the larger pipes more often.
5. Here's the runt of the litter, a Comoy Pebble Grain 337. I picked this up new for $40. It's a great little pipe and smokes cooler than you'd expect since the walls are thinner than the others. Odd thing is, I can barely pass a pipe cleaner through the narrow draught hole, but it has a better draw than the Wessex. Ah, the mysteryies of pipe engineering.
Here they are in situ.
So, I'm currently looking at adding a Rattray Sir William 46, although that pipe seems to be larger than the Wessex, which I may not like. Plus, I hate the filter thing.
I wish I could find a Lorenzetti Titus 29. This looks like an awesome pipe.
If anyone has any suggestions for a sandblasted prince, let me know.
Feel free to discuss and most importantly, please post up your princes. :
:
