Don Carlos One Note XL Rusticated Lovat w/ Silver Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Don Carlos belongs to a historic lineage within Italian pipe making. The workshop was founded by Bruto Sordini (along with his wife Rosaria), who had previously made pipes for Mastro de Paja, where he also met Giancarlo Guidi. In 1981, Sordini and Guidi left Mastro de Paja to found their own workshop, Ser Jacopo. After years of making pipes at Ser Jacopo, Sordini once again departed to found a new venture, as he had ideas for shapes and styles that were quite different to Ser Jacopo’s established design philosophy. Sordini therefore created Don Carlos as a means of expressing this vision, resulting in pipes that are both quintessentially Italian, and bearing aesthetic that is wholly their own.

I’ve said before, in previous listings, that Italian pipe makers have a minor tradition of sorts regarding Canadian, Lovat, Liverpool, and lumberman shapes. That tradition being turning extraordinarily long renditions of these shapes. It’s not something that’s completely unique to Italy (Sasieni and its “Canadian” also comes to mind), but it’s more common in Italian pipes than anywhere else. From Brebbia and its “Iceberg” model, to Savinelli’s early shape 8004, to workshops and solo carvers, such as Mastro de Paja or Claudio Cavicchi, no other nation so consistently puts the “long” in “long shanks.” This one, from the Sordinis’ Don Carlos make, is around seven inches and dressed in an especially crisp, granular rustication that actually reminds me a little more of Italian-inspired American artisans, such as Paul Bonacquisti, Mike Butera, or Michael Frey, than its compatriot makes. Perhaps the cross-continental influence has become mutual? In any case, this one’s sterling silver collar is an especially nice touch, contrasting with the bowl’s obsidian hues and thereby making for a very unique variation on the dress pipe theme.

This pipe is completely unsmoked.

Details:

Length: 6.8″ / 172.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.85 / 21.59mm

Bowl Depth: 1.90″ / 48.26mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g