Dunhill: Cumberland (3421) (2018) Tobacco Pipe

Dunhill's "21" Zulu shape is one of my favorites from the English marque, keeping true to the classic profile, as is the standard for Dunhill, with its gently flaring bowl and fluid forward cant. There's just something imminently captivating about the languid flow of its lines, especially when, as in this case, it's paired to a curved stem, extending the ebb of the silhouette. There is also a kind of consistent expansion to the shape, reminding me of the Horn profile, and fostering a kind of building momentum that reaches its greatest potential energy at the fore of the rim. Dressed in the warm, timeless hues of the Cumberland finish, this piece showcases a handsome array of blasted grain across the stummel.

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."