Lasse Skovgaard XL Sandblasted Brandy Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Danish pipe making is notable not only for its masters, but its dynasties. The most famous is, of course, Sixten Ivarsson and his son Lars Ivarsson and granddaughter Nanna Ivarsson; but there is also Anne Julie, her son Bernhard Julie, and her grandson Johannes “Suhr” Rasmussen; Ib Loran and his daughter Tine Loran; Kurt Balleby and his daughter Tine Balleby. The list goes on. And it would not be complete without a mention of Lasse Skovgaard Jorgensen, the son of WO Larsen alum and carver of its Straight Grain pipes, Benni Jorgensen. Lasse himself made WO Larsen pipes as a teenager and debuted his solo work in 2004. In the years since, he has become such a renowned figure on the international high-grade scene that his parentage is an afterthought, if a thought at all.

With that said, there are certain things about Lasse Skovgaard that connect him to his father, in addition to also being a world-class pipe maker. During Benni Jorgensen’s time with W.O. Larsen, for example, he came up with his own, unique approach to sandblasting, with yielded a significant improvement in the make’s sandblasted pipes. Jorgensen’s typically tan-hued, deep relief sandblasts were in fact so precise and finely grained that a separate Straight Grain category was set up to include pipes with such finishes, and there were even a few partially sandblasted Pearl grades, which was previously unheard of. Jorgensen was also—and still is—a master of especially organic shapes, and remains famous for his plump brandy, apple, and egg renditions, often incorporating slight asymmetries into the designs. I mention this because these are two aspects that are also prominent in SKovgaard’s pipes, with the latter arguably going even further in modifying and refining them to meet the expectations of the contemporary high-grades scene. This one is a superbly shaped, ballooning brandy rendition, with a ring grain sandblast so thorough and consistent that one might mistake it for being etched with a hand- or machine-tool. Like the Ivarssons and their Peewits, or the Ballebys and their bulldogs, perhaps it’s just one of those things that’s “in the blood.”

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. It comes with its original sleeve.

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 157.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.87 / 22.09mm

Bowl Depth: 1.70″ / 43.18mm

Weight: 2.6oz / 76g