Johs Giant Smooth Panel Brandy (Unsmoked Estate)

Denmark’s Mogens “Johs” Johansen made his first pipe in 1983, beginning as a self-taught artisan while receiving guidance from his friend, the late Peter Hedegaard. Johs established his own workshop in the mid-1980s, with his pipes quickly garnering significant acclaim. In fact, Joh’s became such a sensation in the Danish pipe smoking community that, at one point, he had to close his doors to the wider public as he was getting so many visitors that it was interrupting his work. Among the growing number of admirers of Johs’s work was none other than the legendary Bjarne Nielsen, who snapped up the former to make Bjarne pipes in 1992. Alongside Tonni Nielsen, Ph. Vigen, and Ole Bandholm, Johs ultimately became one of the main craftsmen behind the Bjarne brand. After Nielsen’s sudden passing in 2008, Johs returned his focus to making pipes under his own name, while also running the Gaden Pibemagerie pipe shop with his wife, Doris. As is common in the Danish artisan community, Johs has since paid forward the debt owed to his debt to Hedegaard by helping to cultivate newer generations of pipe makers, mentoring artisans such as Knud Bech, Johannes Hoffman, Dieter Gottschling.

One curious aspect of Mogens Johansen’s Johs pipes is the difference between the kinds of pipes he exports to the US, and the ones that are sold in Denmark and the rest of Europe. US-import Johs pipes are certainly nice, but rarely do we get a chance to purchase his rarer, higher-grade works, including his magnum sized pipes. The latter appear to be referred to as “Giants” by certain European vendors, and they are indeed strikingly large. At over 8 inches in length and with around 2 and 1/2 inches in chamber depth, I would be quite confident in assuming that this pipe is one of Johs’s Giants. It’s not just large, of course—it’s also a very beautiful pipe, with a faceted brandy bowl and a light finish highlighting excellent flame grain underneath.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating.

Details:

Length: 8.2″ / 208.2mm

Bowl Width: 1.01 / 25.65mm

Bowl Depth: 2.50″ / 63.5mm

Weight: 5.9oz / 170g