Dunhill: Cumberland (3124) (2021) Tobacco Pipe

Winston Churchill didn't regularly smoke a pipe — he was more of a cigar guy — but were he to have, I wager he'd have smoked a Dunhill. To go a step further, I think the Dress series would best suit his aesthetic preferences, as well, and at the risk of going even further out on this limb, I think Dunhill's "24" Foursquare would be a favorite shape of the British Prime Minister: embodying his sturdy nature and stout disposition and able to be set down on a conference room table while pouring a glass of Johnnie Walker. Based on the size of his cigars, I imagine Churchill would have been more inclined toward Dunhill's Group 5 or 6 renditions, but this Group 3 offers a more middle-of-the-road size, appealing to a wide range of collectors. It's a pipe fit for a leader.

When Alfred Dunhill released his patented Shell Briar, he forever changed the pipe-smoking world at large. Dunhill has often been credited with being the first to offer sandblasted pipes (arguably the most popular finish today), and the Cumberland finish further displayed Dunhill's innovative spirit. Well received after its release in 1979, the Cumberland series was named for the English marque's warehouse on Cumberland road, and the line's signature, brindled vulcanite stem became so iconic, the warmly striated material is now referred to simply as "cumberland."