Castello “Castello” 4K Smooth Bent Apple Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Founded in 1947 by Carlo Scotti, Castello quickly became known for producing some of the finest smoking pipes in the world. Over the years, the people involved in making Castello pipes has changed – such as Luigi Radice and Sergio Ascorti, who developed their skills in the Cantu workshop before leaving to start Caminetto, or the handing of the reigns of the company to Francisco ‘Kino’ Coppo after Scotti’s passing – but the superlative quality of Castello pipes has not. It is not without reason that Castello is known as ‘the Italian Dunhill.’

This Castello is an absolutely beautiful Oom-Paul/apple hybrid from the prestigious Italian make. An example of their ‘Castello’ line, the pipe is is a KKKK grade, which is the highest attainable grade within that line. It has gorgeous, consistent straight and flame grain around the bowl, along with patches of bird’s-eyes on the rim and underside. I imagine this is why the pipe earned the grade it did. The pipe also has Castello’s typical lucite stem, but this one has a decorative briar insert, giving the pipe an extra bit of subtle flair.

The condition is just excellent. There’s some very minor inner rim darkening, but nothing else of note. The previous owner clearly took good care of this one.

 

Details:

Length: 5.2″

Bowl Width: 19.3mm

Bowl Depth: 1.5″

Weight: 1.7oz / 51g