Italian Estates: Castello Aristocratica Bent Apple (2020) (Unsmoked) Tobacco Pipe

Though this is quite a compact pipe, measuring in at just over four and a half inches long, this bent Apple from Castello is a strikingly robust piece with a full-bodied bowl and sinuous curves throughout. I'm impressed by the degree of muscularity on display here and the consistency with which it possesses this pipe's build, as the hearty bowl is balanced by a thick, gently tapering shank and trim, demurely curved stem. That being said, this is still a distinctly neoclassical piece, with the bowl standing out prominently at the end of the shank-and-stem combination, rising to nearly two inches in height. The thick walls of this bowl are supple and curved throughout, lending them a touch of taper through the travel to its plateau-crowned rim. As part of the storied Aristocratica line, this rim has been fumed, draping it in a smoky, inky stain that starkly contrasts the grain-defining auburn dressing of the rest of the stummel, its jet-black stem acting as a handsome compliment. Unsmoked.