Claudio Cavicchi: Smooth Bent Apple (CCC) Tobacco Pipe

Claudio Cavicchi is truly a master of his craft, and his ability to coax the best possible grain out of every piece of briar will always astound me. His over 50 years of experience ensures that his pipes are not only beautiful, but expertly shaped and precisely drilled. This bent Apple is a shape that's possessed of ample rotundity, the bowl's walls complete with supple curves throughout their arcing taper to the rim, with a pronounced, belly-like heel extending through the underside to further emphasize the fore's roundness. The transition is wide enough to accommodate a digit, and the shank lifts from it while embodying a bit of comparative slenderness, reaching a sleek, demurely curved saddle stem of jet-black acrylic. The ample thickness of this pipe affords it a robust, reassuring feel in hand and leaves plenty of room to showcase one of Cavicchi's iconic honey-blonde stains: revealing windswept flame grain surrounding the bowl and earning this piece the CCC grade.