Italian Estates: Moretti Smooth Bent Dublin (𝛿𝛿𝛿𝛿) (2020) Tobacco Pipe

Igino Moretti founded the Moretti Recanati brand in 1968 in Recanati, Italy, a small town with a rich pipe making history that stretches back to 1850. Igino actually worked for one of the town's largest pipe factories, before financial pressures stemming from World War 2 forced them to close in 1950. After many years, Igino handed off control of production to his son-in-law Marco Biagini, who diversified the design principles of the workshop to include the classic profiles of Anglo-French manufacturers and Danish carvers. This bent Dublin is a robust pipe, though one which is rather reserved compared to some of Moretti's other works, its tight transition giving way to a deeply curved shank and stem combination. Said shank and stem offer a comfortable smoking posture, the shank itself a rather short, lifting stretch of briar that meets a relatively lengthy taper of black acrylic. Up front, the bowl stands atop a rounded heel and expands with a measured flare toward the plateau-crowned rim, a subtle chamfer into the chamber making the loading of tobacco a bit easier. Dressed in a warm, light stain, the stummel showcases handsome grain throughout, with fine flame wrapping the bowl's circumference.