Peterson: Sherlock Holmes PSB Mycroft P-Lip Tobacco Pipe

Sherlock's older brother, Mycroft, utilized his own incredible powers of intellect and perfect memory in service of the British Crown due to his lack of energy and disdain for fieldwork. Commemorating the elder of the genius Holmes brothers, Peterson's Mycroft design is defined by a proudly poised Dublin bowl anchored to a substantial shank and deep sweeping transition. Also known as the "XL22," the Mycroft exhibits a Zulu-like profile thanks to the gentle bend through the shank and stem and slight forward cant of the trumpeting bowl. It's a graceful design but in a manner rooted in strength and composure, not light and airy proportions, doing an excellent job of maintaining the Irish marque's penchant for muscular proportions.

Peterson of Dublin and Sherlock Holmes have enjoyed an inextricable association ever since Basil Rathbone first picked up a Peterson pipe on the silver screen. Rathbone's 14-film portrayal of the intrepid detective lasted from 1939 to 1946, and Peterson's Sherlock Holmes collection has honored that relationship since 1987. Peterson introduced the series with a one-off design commemorating the 100th anniversary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet, with more shapes released throughout the subsequent years, and the line has become a staple across the Irish marque's portfolio. Each pipe in the collection also showcases Peterson's exemplary silverwork — the firm being renowned for its application of sterling silver, with the factory's smiths having completed a years-long mentorship stewarded by Peterson's senior craftsmen. The Sherlock Holmes line boasts broad accent bands of the regal metal, etched with the collection's logo, contrasted here against a dark chocolate-stained sandblast for a traditional appeal and just the right amount of texture to complement the reserved aesthetic.

In 2019, Peterson overhauled its sandblasting process by adopting a more intimate, artisan-style setup that now allows the marque's craftsmen to sandblast pipes individually and with more control. This new process yielded such exceptional results that Peterson created a special stamp to further distinguish pipes that showed especially choice, grain-defining sandblasts: the PSB grade. While the Supreme is still the highest designation for Peterson's sandblasted pipes, the PSB stamp denotes sandblasted bowls of exceptional quality and character and remains a rare honor in its own right, with only 1% of Peterson's regular production pipes earning the designation. This is truly a special piece and represents Peterson's new standard for the sandblasted pipe.