Paronelli Italian Artisan Briar Pipes: Paronelli are true Artisan pipe making family company making boutique, one off, high grade pipes. Every pipe is hand crafted using choice Sardinian and Calabrian Briar from their own plantation where they control the trees to ensure only the highest grade of root Briar is grown. The root is only harvested between October and March when the plant is at rest so there is no sap in the wood which is the cause of bitter tastes in your pipe. Every piece of Briar is then boiled to purify the wood and remove minerals and tannins. The Briar is then dried and seasoned for a minimum of 70 years! No ........ that isn't a typo, every pipe is crafted from a piece of Briar harvested by the craftsman's grandfather! This ensures a cool and sweet smoke from the first light with little breaking in required. They limit production to around 1000 pipes per year to maintain the highest level of craftsmanship and as not to exhaust their precious stocks. Each pipe is finished naturally using Carnauba wax and no artificial elements.
Paronelli Design 09 Calabash: The Paronelli Design are the most prestigious pipes to come out of the Paronelli factory. The finest blocks from the plateaux area of the root are reserved for the production of the Design range and once carved they are graded according to the final grain pattern and quality with very few achieving the design stamp. The craftsmen behind the Design 09 is definitely a characterful chap with true confidence to go against the grain. (pun totally intentional) The pipe is made using the usual spectacular grade of Plateaux briar that Paronelli is renowned for however this craftsman turned the normal freehand standards on end and has left the plateaux on the base which means the superb flame grain tapers upwards which is stunning on it's own merit. The plateaux is then beautifully preserved on the base well away from where the pipe is lit and usually chars this beautiful and natural part of the briar root. It is shaped fairly chunky yet remains very comfortable in the hand and has plenty of wood to keep the pipe smoking cool and sweet even with the fiercest burning Virginia.
ONE OFF PIPE: This is a one off pipe and the pipe in the picture is the exact pipe you will receive. Please note that colour varies depending on your computer monitor and may not replicate the colour exactly.