Savinelli Autograph: Autograph Sandblasted Bent Dublin (6mm) Tobacco Pipe

Savinelli's Autograph is the Italian marque's limited-production, handmade series, utilizing specially aged extra-extra plateau briar and being crafted by only three of the brand's most experienced carvers. From start to finish, the process of crafting a single one of these pipes is handled by a single one of these veteran craftsmen, the series providing them with design freedom and allowing them to express their personal creativity. This impressive bent Dublin comes in at over seven inches long, making it quite a palm-filling briar, the bowl expanding strikingly from a sweeping heel to a Fan-like rim that's crowned in craggy plateau. The thick insulating walls here surround a capacious chamber while maintaining enough curvature to offer comfort in the hand. The transition is pinched and rather tightly knit, though leaves enough room to drape a digit and leads to the flaring shank, its end mirroring the rim's plateau covering before introducing us to a demurely curved, stylized stem. Dressing this piece is a walnut-hued sandblast that unveils some wonderfully developed ring grain across the bowl, with dense, concentric stacks of growth rings striated by visual flame, offering plenty of textural and visual appeal.