I’ve been after a nice piece by Tom Eltang for my Danish collection for some time now and luckily I came across this gorgeous bent Dublin up for grabs on eBay. Still, I had little hope of winning this beauty, figuring the bidding would easily go beyond the price where my wife would have me certified for spending that much on a piece of wood and rubber. Luckily with Christmas around the corner, bidding was light and all of the high grades were going for much less than they otherwise would. I got the Eltang and was saved from the wrath of SWMBO to boot.
O frabjous day!
This is one of Tom’s Sun grades, second highest to the top of the line Snail. Consequently, the grain and staining are absolutely stunning. Tom does a black & tan contrast like no other, making his pipes instantly recognizable. The swirling birdseye on the asymmetric contoured rim is a perfect complement to the intense straight grain around the bowl and shank. At just under 6 inches long with a 2 inch bowl height, it’s about a Group 5 in size and weighs a mere 55 grams. Aside from a very fine scratch on the rim, the pipe is flawless and in pristine condition.
It’s an excellent smoker even though the draft isn’t quite as open as I’d like. Visually I’ve always liked the bent Dublin shape and it would be one of my favorites except for one fault inherent in the design: the tapered walls tend to cause the bottom of the bowl to heat up excessively due to the thinner walls in this area. This happens especially with straight-walled chambers versus conical or tapered ones and unfortunately this pipe is one of those affected. The heel gets quite hot with normal puffing, forcing me to rest the pipe a few times towards the end of the smoke. It’s an inconvenience I’m hoping a little heel cake will correct.
This is my first Eltang aside from my 2004 Former/Eltang Pipes & Tobaccos POY and I couldn’t have wished for a nicer example. While at the West Coast Pipe Show in Las Vegas last month, Rob Cooper shot the photo of Tom holding this very pipe as he commented on just how beautiful it was (in his unbiased opinion of course! :P ). It’s a rare treat to have a photo of a pipe one owns being held by its maker, especially when that maker is one of Tom’s caliber.
