Merry Christmas... Now Bend Over

[mso489]

That Hilson is a classic Dublin, along with the billiard, my favorite shape. I love it that the briar was inadvertently

aged when the pipes were designed not to use filters and were stored for decades. Consider the rude overcharges

just a little something extra for all that aging on the briar, and likely worth every penny.

 

[gwtwdbss]

That is fantastic. Great looking pipe and packaging. Congrats!

 

[rockymtnsmoker]

Cheers guys. Smoked my first bowl this afternoon and I think this will be a real good pipe once she's broken in. I believe I have read that oiled briar has a bit of a flavour that it takes a few bowls to smoke through

 

[fnord]

Rocky:
Lovely pipe and there's been so many good things said about Hilson smokers in the past few months.
I'm with Mso. Those overcharges are small payment for aged briar. That burner will become a favorite, when it gets broken in to your satisfaction, and you're going to find yourself reaching for it more often than you should.
Algerian briar from the late 50's through the early 60's should be coveted.
You've had two winners this week, pard.
Fnord

 

[mrenglish]

That is a stunning pipe.
How did you end up paying the customs fees? I mean, did you have to pay FedEx when they showed up with the pipe, do they bill you or do they already have your CC info and just charge you?

 

[cortezattic]

I've purchased 3 or 4 pipes from Al Pascia. There were no duties or unseen taxes, just the $10 Fedex shipping cost.

BTW, one time Fedex delivered from Milan to Chicago in about 33 hrs. from the time I pressed the enter key.

 

[martiniman]

I have no history with Hilson but that is a great looking pipe.

 

[rockymtnsmoker]

Have to pay the extra duties and taxes at the door when the package is delivered Mrenglish. The extra costs are a Canadian thing. We pay an import duty, plus our version of the VAT, as well as the FedEx brokerage fee of $10. On the other hand, international delivery was three days door-to-door for €10 or about CAD$14. I'm paying at least that for US merchants to ship via USPS and it takes 2-3 weeks.

 

[rockymtnsmoker]

Think that's it Roth. You guys just pay FedEx's brokerage fee. Not sure if the US has a trade deal with Italy specifically or the EU generally, or if your gov't just hasn't cottoned onto that possible revenue stream. I'm hoping our new trade deal with the EU means I can do some more ordering from AP down the road and not get dinged.