Castello: Collection Occhio di Pernice Zulu (K) Tobacco Pipe

Italian workshop Castello has a rich history that stretches back to 1947 with its founding by Carlo Scotti, being established as one of the first Italian brands to offer high-quality handmade pipes to the general public. In the 1960s, following the addition of Luigi Radice and Peppino Ascorti to their team of carvers, Castello's pipes began to take on a form that was quite different from the Anglo-French classics that they and others had been producing. The Italian neoclassical style which they had begun to develop led not only to a shaping renaissance within Italy, but the production of a number of now-iconic profiles. This Zulu is a fluid and smartly curved take on the shape, and one that truly toes the line between its namesake and the bent Dublin, with a consistent taper through its shank and stem combination. The transition is wide, with ample room to drape a digit, and the shank lifts very slightly as it reaches out to meet the stem, whose subdued downturn makes for a comfortable smoking posture. Up front, the bowl stands tall atop a sweeping heel and cants forward dynamically, its walls flaring out to a broad rim and surrounding a capacious chamber, leaving plenty of space to showcase the stummel's deep, rich, Collection finish. This finish unveils dense fields of birdseye across both flanks of the bowl, earning this pipe the coveted Occhio di Pernice grade to designate its excellent display of the swirling grain.