Sandblasted Poker with Silver (S5) (2510) Tobacco Pipe

Wonderful growth rings traverse the bowl of this sandblasted Poker from Larry Roush, stacked up the bowl like a stack of dinner plates. Well, there's a little more waviness than that, but it's nice for sure. The light stain more closely matches the natural color of the briar, especially at the rim, which is smooth, flat, and broad, and filled with tight birdseye. The shank emerges from the bowl like a tree limb, as is appropriate with the Poker shape, and the shank end is accented by a sterling silver band, Larry's specialty, as he was a professional jeweler for many years. The tapered stem is a periwinkle color, a bit on the violet side, and a stunning visual contrast for the traditional color and shape of the stummel. It's unusual to see a pipe from Larry that doesn't have a tapered shank and stem, but, again, for a Poker, this treatment is correct.

With one of the most distinct North American carving styles anywhere, Larry's pipes are easily recognizable, and his proprietary curing process provides a neutral smoke, in my experience (I own several of them, all traditional shapes), with no break-in necessary. Larry's style is a little bulky for my preferences, though I like his work a lot, but his pipes have always smoked extraordinarily well so I keep buying them. Here's your chance.