Paronelli Toscano

[jaingorenard]

I'm not a huge fan of many Italian pipes, though I do have a few Savinellis from early on that I still love to smoke, and a couple of others (a Radice, a Castello etc.). But in going through a job lot box of pipes I bought I found a couple of old cheroot holders (I have a few of these that have come along with pipes). I became curious if anything similar was still made nowadays, and stumbled upon Paronelli's Toscano pipes, designed to have Toscano cigars smoked in them. I've always thought these cheroot holders are ridiculous, and never understood why someone would want to smoke a cigar sticking straight up in front of them. However... My interest was piqued.

I read a few reviews of Paronelli pipes that were less than positive. Did that put me off? No. At the risk of a (probably) fairly significant waste of money and (definitely) looking like a tosser, I bought one.
Now, I would guess these are made from 'waste' briar, as they are tiny and the rustication is pretty heavy but, surprisingly, I really like it. The construction is good, it's quirky, I like the natural briar colour with the stem (far less 'glow in the dark' than it looked in the pictures).


I smoked a Toscano in it and I have to conclude... why? It smoked fine, and I suppose I was able to smoke it right down to the end, but Toscanos are really cheap anyway. To be honest, when I fancy a cigar I want to smoke a cigar - not a cigar in a pipe. But all in all, I quite like the weird little thing, and will probably keep it to smoke small bowls of very strong tobaccos. I may even cut up a Toscano and smoke it in it.

 

[Sigmund]

I’ve wondered about the stems on that brand. Do they feel cheap? They make some interesting pipes but I can get a nice estate pipe for the cost of one so I havent bit yet.

 

[jaingorenard]

I’ve wondered about the stems on that brand. Do they feel cheap? They make some interesting pipes but I can get a nice estate pipe for the cost of one so I havent bit yet.

It's acrylic, feels just like any other acrylic stem. In terms of the bit, it's fine. I wouldn't like to swear to what it would be like on a full-size pipe, bit difficult to judge on one this small.

I wouldn't be disappointed to have spent this much on a full-size pipe of this quality (not sure on the pricing of their other pipes) but you can definitely find much better value estates.

I'd say this is at least as good if not better than similarly priced Petersons, for example.

 

[Uguccione]

I've always thought these cheroot holders are ridiculous, and never understood why someone would want to smoke a cigar sticking straight up in front of them

There are those who madly love Toscano smoked in pipe, pure or in blends. Famous is the Tosco-Virginia (50% Toscano, 50% Capstan or Amphora, etc...). Many even buy Toscano solely to crumble it in the pipe. So, at some point, someone must have thought of making a pipe that would save you the trouble of crumbling it :D

 

[Uguccione]

https://www.jobpipe.it/

This is a guy (I think he has a tobacco shop) who started making pipes for Toscano years ago. I followed him on YouTube even though the subject didn't interest me in the slightest.
However, they were rather cheap pipes.
Now he has focused on the creation of titanium pipes ...