Peterson: Aran Smooth Nickel Mounted (701) Fishtail Tobacco Pipe

In Peterson's 1945 catalog, the Irish marque introduced four Speciality shapes: the Barrel, Tankard, Calabash, and Belgique. The line trades Peterson's conventional shaping cues for a slender, petite disposition, a stark contrast to the robust, muscular aesthetic that dominates the Irish firm's portfolio. These are the smallest, most lightweight designs Peterson has to offer, and they've been popular favorites over the past 70+ years, with many pipe smokers devoting them to flake tobaccos. Originally, the Tankard, presented here, forwent a usual, numbered shape designation, but in 2021, the svelte and streamlined take on the sure-sitting Poker became known as the "701" on Peterson's shape chart.

One of Peterson's most traditional finishes, the Aran presents a color palette of chocolatey stain and jet-black stem. In the smooth iteration, it highlights the briar's natural grain pattern with handsome reservation — not distracting from the form's shape yet, at the same time, offering enough definition and detail to remain intriguing and individual, accented here with a flashy nickel band to add some formal panache and elegant appeal.