I have been in the process of downsizing my collection . This has included tossing some, giving some to new pipe smoker i know and gathering a number of pipes for trade including, i never thought i would write this, most of my Castello 10 collection. I went through a long period of loving them but now the Castello stem is simply too clunky and thick for me. It's not my teeth ( i have them) but probably betrays an appreviative return to vulcanite and certainly for makers who produce acrylic stems with taper. Both the Radice acrylic and their E series are examples. As i was gathering the pipes to send i noticed a Peterson Flame Grain Silver Spigot D17 sitting forlornly in a rack. I haven't smoked it in more than a year and, as a result, selected it for transfer. I decided, however, to smoke it before doing so and was blown away at how well it smoked a bowl of Sutliff Hogshead. The narrow bowl seemed to concentrate the sweeter flavors present in a blend which has become one of my favorite Virginias. It was one of those smokes that i wish went on for hours. As a result, no trade for the pipe and so it will remain. I wonder if any others have had similar experience. If so, which maker, what bowl shape and size and what blend?
