Dunhill: Alpine Ring Grain (HT) (XXL) (2017) Tobacco Pipe

In 2017 Dunhill fashioned 10 of these Alpine pipes, replicating a special Dunhill pipe from 1936 that now rests in the English marque's archive. The design is based on an old style of pipe originally from the Alps around Bavaria, Austria, South Tyrol, and Switzerland. Referred to as Gesteckpfeifen ("arrangement pipes") or Jägerpfeifen ("hunter pipes"), these pipes were considerable in length and required assembling the various parts, traditionally having been used by farmers, shepherds, and huntsmen.

Dunhill's Alpine rendition follows the same historical form, consisting of four separate pieces: a Cutty-like bowl of briar that fits into a heel and transition also of briar, then attaching to a long, vertical shank extension and tightly bent, more abbreviated mouthpiece at the top. The whole piece stands sturdily upright and otherwise promotes a comfortable, relaxing smoking posture — like that of a Churchwarden — and this particular one wears a gorgeous Shell sandblast, earning the prestigious title of Ring Grain.

All four pipe pieces are neatly stowed in one of Dunhill's signature Ventage cases, which was invented by Alfred Dunhill in 1919 and patented the following year, allowing the pipe to be safely stowed while still able to cool and vent thanks to the case's ventilation channel.