G. Penzo: Sandblasted Billiard with Horn Tobacco Pipe

There are many who prefer a virgin-finished briar over, say, more dramatic contrast-stained options, as it allows for the potential to darken and become more defined of grain pattern with time and enjoyment. With this Italian artisan Giacomo Penzo did not disappoint, as this neoclassically-proportioned Billiard can attest, with its ultra-tight, stacked ring-grain climbing all flanks of the tall bowl, paired to a succinct saddle stem sporting an appropriately pastoral horn accent at the base. Shape-wise, to my eye it's just shy of a Lovat, due to the relationship between shank and stem, and a chamber of Stack-like depth is concealed within.

- Daniel Bumgardner