Welcome to another episode of All Pipes Considered. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Erik Stokkebye about the 4th Generation brand and the pipes that evolved from his passion for tobacco. Watch our exclusive conversation and explore our array of Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation pipes, on-site now.

[Shane Ireland]: Erik, thanks for joining us.

[Erik Stokkebye]: Hey, thanks.

[SI]: We've talked a lot about tobacco together over the years. But the Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation line of pipes is something that I thought was interesting. I think a lot of us, if we're familiar with the Stokkebye name at all and with the 4th Generation brand, have associated it so closely with tobacco for so many years. Can you tell us a little bit first about your entry into the business and how that led you down not only the tobacco road, but the pipe road?

[ES]: Sure. So I started the 4th Generation brand in 2012, basically with four different tins each dedicated to a generation. And then I thought maybe we should have a line of pipes to accompany the pipe tobacco. The first time I met Peder [Jeppesen] Neerup, he made a line of pipes for me. And then I branched off with different manufacturers later on. And I just felt it was important to have a good line of pipes with the tobacco. Today we have different series made by different manufacturers of pipe makers, and it's gone very well for me.

[SI]: Fantastic, so back to your early days. When you entered the business in general, how old were you when you effectively started working in the pipe-tobacco industry?

[ES]: Well, technically I was about eight years old.

[SI]: Yeah.

[ES]: I mean, back in those days, people were working on Saturday mornings as well. So my father took me to my grandfather's factory, and I helped out with taking boxes here and there and whatever, just small stuff. So that's technically when I started. But, my official entry was around 1981 when I started in the U.S. with our own company importing pipes and pipe tobacco. My wife and I were living in the U.S. for a while, and then we moved back to Denmark and headed up the factory in 1989. And that's when I started to work with some of the European markets and so forth. So it's been a long road.

[SI]: So in the early days, when you were sourcing tobacco in the U.S., and that was primarily your role for a period, I'm curious, was there one or the other? I think a lot of us as pipe smokers go back and forth between being more fascinated with pipes and more fascinated with tobacco, maybe collecting more pipes, trying more tobaccos. I mean, we all do both of that, but I think it is a little bit of a cyclical thing. When you first got into it, given that a lot of the family business at the time was so centered around the tobaccos, were pipes something that had an appeal, an intrigue, and a mystique that wasn't necessarily part of the business?

[ES]: Actually, back in those days, it was really all about tobacco. So the pipe side, for me, wasn't that important.

[SI]: They were tools.

[ES]: They were tools, exactly. Everything was centered around the development of blends and having the right tobaccos. So it really wasn't until I thought about having my own line of pipes that I really got into the pipe side of things. It's been a little bit of a learning curve for me. But it's also been really fascinating, I think. And since then, I've visited some pipe factories, but now I've really seen a lot of pipe factories and it's been really intriguing.

[SI]: And interesting, too, because you're approaching it as a tobacco guy, I would imagine.

[ES]: Exactly, and for me, it's as much about the pipe as it is about the tobacco today.

[SI]: So before we get into some of the series that we have on the table here that are currently in production, when you set out to start, expand, and grow a 4th Generation line of pipes, what did you have in mind in terms of style? I think a lot of your tobaccos, and even going back further, your family's tobaccos have become benchmarks for what we consider to be Danish-style flakes and Danish-style Aromatics. What about pipe design caught your eye in the first place? And how did you form the brand and how did you come up with the series that we have now?

[ES]: Right, well, being a European, or Danish European, I always leaned towards more classic, smaller bowls, and classic shapes, that type of thing. And it was really about what I liked in the pipe.

[SI]: A little bit of functionalism.

[ES]: I was definitely leaning towards classic-type shapes, not so much Freehand. The pipes that Peder made for us were in between the two.

[SI]: They were modern classics.

[ES]: Modern classics, yeah exactly. Then we moved into the Churchwardens as well, and I love those designs. We also have the new Forza line, which is made by Ascorti which feature classic types of shapes as well, with a little bit bigger bowls, but they're quite aesthetically pleasing designs.

[SI]: Yeah, absolutely. There's a variety of finishes too. I think particularly the rusticated finish is a little bit of a hybrid style. The rustication itself definitely has an Italian flare to it. It's a mixture of fine striations and really craggy peaks, if you will. It's kind of a compound rustication style that's both carved and technically rusticated. And I think that's really interesting the way that it pairs with those designs. But you also have the Klassisk line.

[ES]: We have the Klassisk line, which is more Anglo/French, almost like Comoy's pipes and shapes. And one of the things that I did insist on was on the bands. I've always been fascinated by the metal bronze. So all of the pipes that we make have a bronze band attached to the pipes, signifying that they are 4th Generation pipes.

[SI]: Yes and also just as it is, I really like that there's such a subtle difference between something like sterling or aluminum or bronze. It really does something different to the finishes. The way it pairs with the black sandblast or even the contrast smooth here, it has a very different appeal. It does have a modern look to it. I also really like the way that they patina. They end up looking really nice with use. There's also the Churchwarden line with three shape models.

[ES]: Yeah, these are the first two we had. And, again, it's a Churchwarden, but a classic-type bowl with a bronze band and it's just a very pretty pipe, I think.

[SI]: I would also say that the Churchwarden maybe more so than the Klassisk and the Forza have a little more of a Danish character to them, in terms of their shaping.

[ES]: Yes, that's true.

[SI]: But yeah, I really love the negative space that you have between the ring and the band. It's a really interesting line and definitely one of the more popular series.

[ES]: Very popular, we're actually having a tough time keeping them in stock.

[SI]: That's a good problem.

[ES]: Yeah. They're popular, so it's good.

[SI]: So do you have a personal favorite in terms of maybe a shape, finish, and series within the line?

[ES]: I do. In the Klassisk line, we have a bent Dublin.

[SI]: It's very elegant.

[ES]: Yeah. We also have a quarter bend, in a Prince shape, which I really like. It's a smaller bowl.

[SI]: It's very handy. I think you and I have similar pipe tastes. I think this might be a tobacco nerd thing, because if I only smoked one blend, maybe I could see myself smoking, I don't know, one really large bowl of that blend? But because I really do like smoking multiple bowls throughout the day, smaller pipes are pretty handy, in my opinion.

[ES]: They are, yes.

[SI]: Do you have any plans in store for the pipe line this year? What can we expect next from 4th Generation pipes?

[ES]: So each year we come out with a Father's Friends and Fire pipe, and we have a 2024 shape coming out.

[SI]: Two finishes?

[ES]: Two finishes, and we should have that in a couple of months or so.

[SI]: Fantastic. Are you comfortable with teasing what the shape might be?

[ES]: It's going to be a stubby, straight Dublin-type of shape.

[SI]: Really?

[ES]: Yeah, so I think that's going to be really good.

[SI]: Nice, definitely looking forward to that. What about plans for Pipe of the Year 2024?

[ES]: That is in the works as well; we have that shape coming out in two finishes. We are not quite sure whether it's going to be this spring or later towards the summer.

[SI]: Are you comfortable teasing who that might be designed by this year?

[ES]: It's going to be Bruno Nuttens.

[SI]: Oh, fantastic.

[ES]: That's who did it last year for us. And he's doing it again this year. I really like his pipes. They're handmade. He makes some fantastic pipes.

[SI]: The collaboration last year was really cool. And I'm excited to see what Bruno has in store this year. That'll be fun. Well, Erik, thank you again for joining me.

[ES]: Thank you, Shane.

[SI]: It's really exciting to see where the brand has gone in such a short time. I mean, this is the 12th anniversary of the line, right?

[ES]: Yeah, it's the 12th anniversary of the pipe line, so it's been a good run. And it's been fascinating for me because, as I mentioned, I'm pretty much a tobacco man, so pipes were kind of "new" for me. They have become a little passion project for me, and it's really fun working with these pipe makers.

[SI]: Looking forward to the response for this year's limited editions, which have been very popular the last couple years. And yeah, check out the newest line, which would be the Forza and the Klassisk pipes.

[ES]: Relatively new, yeah.

[SI]: Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation, not just pipe tobacco, but also pipes. Thanks so much, Erik.

[ES]: Thank you, Shane.