Misc. Estates: Daniel Mustran Sandblasted Brandy (2020) (Unsmoked) Tobacco Pipe

Daniel Mustran is a German-born, Croatia-based artisan whose eye for inventive and novel shaping makes each of his pieces special in their own right. His keen imagination leaves us with some of the most striking and distinctive Freehands I've ever seen, as well as re-imaginings of classic shapes such as this Brandy. We've never seen a straight Brandy from Mustran before, but, compared to his bent iterations, this is far and away the most traditional. Though that's not saying this is a traditional Brandy, as it has been endowed with a healthy dose of contemporary styling and imaginative shaping. The saddle stem is a trim length of brindled cobalt and black vulcanite fitted to a ferrule of creamy white hues at the shank end, the shank itself quite thin, leading directly into the lightly cheeked transition. The bowl, of course, holds the majority of the visual weight, though the length of shank and stem, as well as their color palette, ensures that the eye cannot ignore them, allowing for the entire pipe to be easily appreciated. With a low-set waistline and a flat heel, the bowl begins a long, dramatic taper to its rim, the briar built to a height of over two inches, the chamber within falling just short of two, and completing a profile that is both familiar and completely novel, classic and striking, as if a vision of the future had come to fruition right in front of your eyes. The stummel wears a low-depth sandblast stained an inky black, revealing a grain pattern reminiscent of a sunburst array that radiates from the front of the heel in undulating waves across the fore of the stummel, showcasing birdseye and growth rings in harmonious lockstep. The palette of this pipe is made up of contrasts, with each portion, the stem, stummel, and ferrule, a color that stands out independently and collectively, for an unmissable Brandy rendition with a modern elegance that leaves me yearning for it.