Jacono: Rook Flamingo Tobacco Pipe

In 1981, Tonino Jacono's father-in-law extended an offer to start a new pipe making workshop, his father-in-law providing high-quality briar from his job at a briar-cutting mill, his brother shaping the pipes, and Tonino himself doing the finishing. The idea was developed further, and, two years later, the first Jacono pipes were made in 1983 from out of the family's small workshop in Jesi, Italy. Tonino's start at this new venture was guided by a simple principle: offer pipes of the highest possible quality at the best possible price. Tonino now heads the company and has taken on carving responsibilities himself, staying true to his original goal, though benefiting from more than three decades of pipe making experience and a reputation for excellence. A truly one-of-a-kind shape, the Flamingo is a signature design from Jacono that is distinguished by its shank, an angular, crooked affair that resembles the inverted knee joint of the eponymous bird. The profile is decidedly unorthodox, though outside of the construction of the shank, the bowl is a somewhat traditional rendering of a foprward-canting, cylindrical Billiard with thick, insulating walls. Jacono has dressed this Flamingo with a smooth, light, honey-hued finish, showcasing a dense halo of windswept flame grain around the stummel with a peppering of birdseye along the rim and underside.