Peterson: St. Patrick's Day 2023 Rusticated (XL17) Fishtail Tobacco Pipe

Outside of the Sherlock Holmes Collection, the Watson design is designated as the "XL17" shape. Fittingly, it shares a number of shaping cues with the Original Sherlock Holmes design (the "XL11" across the marque's standard series). Both display a deeply bent shank-and-stem combination ending in a defined transition, and the only difference lies in their bowls — the "X11" poises the quintessential Holmes Calabash bowl, whose curves and flare coincide with Sherlock's eccentric, bohemian personality, while the tall Rhodesian of the "XL17" presented here, better embodies the Watson's more reserved, gentlemanly nature.

Peterson's longest-standing annual release, the St. Patrick Day series has been a perennial favorite since 1998, and 2023's edition marks the iconic line's 25th anniversary. Fittingly, the Irish marque returned to that first St. Patrick's Day release for 2023's limited-edition offering: Each St. Patrick's Day 2023 pipe bears a tricolor accent of green, white, and orange to honor the Irish flag's recognizable pattern, and it's the same accent that embellished the first St. Patrick's Day pipes in 1998. The 2023 edition, however, is available in three distinctive finishes — Peterson's signature, hand-tooled rustication; a dark sandblast; or a smooth chestnut version — with the smooth and sandblasted examples bearing vulcanite stems inlaid with Peterson's metal "P" logo, while the rusticated pieces are paired to acrylic stems. Moreover, the smooth and sandblasted St. Patrick's Day 2023 pipes are serialized out of the total 1,200 examples crafted in those finishes and are completed by Peterson-branded bags fashioned from tweed woven by Kerry Woolen Mills — a manufacturer of fabrics and garments in the southwest of Ireland whose history dates to the 17th century. Such a diverse array makes the 2023 edition among the most expansive and memorable, the perfect way to celebrate half a century of Peterson's St. Patrick's Day series.