Ascorti New Dear KS, Wax Drip Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates [SOLD OUT]

Description

Ascorti belongs to a historic lineage in Italian artisan pipe-making. Guiseppe ‘Peppino’ Ascorti was first employed as a pipe-maker in the 1950s, in Carlo Scotti’s Castello workshop in Cantu. There he met Luigi Radice, and in the 1960s the two decided to leave Castello to create their own pipe-making workshop, under the name ‘Caminetto.’ At the end of the 1970s, Guiseppe Ascorti and Luigi Radice left Caminetto and once more decided to start new ventures. Luigi Radice founded the Radice pipe workshop, and Guiseppe’s son Roberto Ascorti, who had also worked in the Caminetto workshop since he was a child, decided to create a workshop under his own name. Roberto was joined not only by his father, but also many of the talented craftsmen who had formerly worked for Caminetto. In 1980, the Ascorti workshop was born.

For those who do not know, a popular finish in the world of Italian pipes is the ‘wax drip.’ Here, the pipe’s briar is painstakingly hand-carved to mimic the look of wax spilling over the side of a burning candle. The Ascortis honed this finish – dubbed ‘New Dear’ – when they worked at Caminetto and then continued to develop it in the pipes bearing their own name. The history of such finishes, however, stretches back far beyond the Italian workshop movement, to the earliest ‘high-grade’ briar pipes, which were intricately and figuratively carved. This pipe is a worthy continuation of that subtle tradition.

This New Dear is a KS, or King Size, pipe, i.e., one of the larger pipes Ascorti offers. It is big and quite beautiful; it will hold plenty of tobacco and it will look good as one smokes it. It is not too heavy, though. The briar used was clearly top grade.

 

Details:

Length: 6″

Bowl Width: 24.0mm

Bowl Depth: 2.1″

Weight: 2.2oz / 65g