Castello: Old America 2022 'Castello' Billiard (09.20) Tobacco Pipe

Introduced in 2020, Castello's Old America series is a limited-edition release that comprises a single shape rendered across a variety of the Italian firm's most iconic finishes. Previous Old America releases centered the Hawkbill and bent Billiard for their respective years, but for 2022, Castello chose to produced an extra-large rendition of their classic "67" Billiard.

The "67" is a particularly striking shape that finds a tall, thick-walled bowl set to a tapering shank-and-stem arrangement. The bowl here houses over two inches of chamber within its muscular frame, ensuring long, leisurely smoking sessions of a favored blend. Additionally, the bowl offers a great deal of substance for the fingers to grasp, and in typical Italian neoclassical style, it holds most of the visual weight within the composition, aided in part by the shank and stem's gradually diminishing line. The shank is rounded at its top and flat along its underside, the latter aspect making this piece a sturdy Sitter. A slender, tapered mouthpiece completes the ensemble, its jet-black hues lending a timeless sensibility to the overall composition. Number 9 out of 20, this particular "67" juxtaposes Castello's eponymous smooth finish against the rim's rugged plateau and the bowl's fluting channels.