Jacono: Rook Bent Apple (E) 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. This bent Apple is a shockingly vertical take on the shape, with a transition wide enough to accept a digit and a lifting shank that's remarkably extended in its angular trajectory up toward a smartly bent saddle stem. The bowl is plump and full-bodied, fitting well into Jacono's portfolio of stout, muscular pipes, and it's easily balanced by the extended shank and stem combination. Dressed in the warm, smoky stain of the Rook series, the stummel showcases impressive flame grain that follows the lines of the shank and wraps around the bowl, all while a basin of birdseye flows through the underside. The grain of this pipe is impressive enough to have earned this pipe an "E" stamp: Jacono's designation for pipes with especially impressive grain.