I have had this pipe around for a while now, in fact long enough that I don’t remember when I bought it. I believe I purchased it from another member on Smoker’s Forums a few years ago. After reading about the Vancouver Pipe Club Christmas Party which featured Michael as the guest speaker I decided to take this pipe out of the cupboard for a smoke. I am not sure why but I have often forgotten I had it there. It has just escaped my notice. I remember smoking it quite a bit when I got it but have not picked it up for a long time. I do remember that it delivers a good cool smoke and that I used it for English and Balkan blends.

It truly is a beautiful and delicate feeling pipe. It is very different from most of the other pipes in my collection. Many of them are fat and stubby with thick shanks and Rhodesian or billiard bowls. This one is nothing like those. The finish is a striated rustication that follows around the bowl and down the shank to the stem. It is stained with an oxblood coloured aniline stain that really sets of the pipe and matches the Cumberland stem very well. The shank is the delicate part of the pipe – it is a pencil shank that extends with a very gentle taper from the bowl to the stem. The rim is smooth as is a small oval on the bottom of the shank that sports the stamping PARKS over 1. While the pipe is delicate looking it is a fairly large pipe. Its length is 6 inches from the tip of the bowl to the end of the button. The height of the bowl is 1 ¾ inches and the diameter of the bowl is 1 3/8 inches. The tobacco chamber’s diameter ¾ inches and the bowl depth is 1 1/8 inches.

The stem is hand cut from Cumberland rod stock and the fit to the shank is impeccable. The red lines in the Cumberland match the colour of the stain of the pipe perfectly. The stem tapers from the junction at the shank to a thin comfortable bit at the end. The button is thin and comfortable and the oval slot in the end of the stem. Michael’s finish on the stem is like glass. My photos do not do the fine craftsmanship of the stem proper justice. It is very well done. The tenon is turned from the Cumberland and is a clean and tight fit to the shank. There is no funnel at the end of the tenon but it lines up precisely with the airway in the end of the mortise.

The internal mechanics of this pipe are very well done. The airway enters the bowl at the bottom and is centered. The drilling the shank is straight and centered in the mortise. The inside of the shank is smooth and there is nothing to impede the airflow from the bowl to the stem. The drilling the stem is also clean and smooth. The slot is oval and funneled into the stem, flattening out the airway leaving it consistent from the tenon back to the slot. The bowl is drilled at the same angle as the slope of the bowl. The pipe came to me pre-smoked so I do not know if the bowl had any bowl coating when it was new. It does not appear to have had any.

The pipe is very light – I do not have a scale so I am not certain of its weight. It is comfortable to hold in the hand and the mouth. The rustication gives it a very tactile feel as it heats up during a smoke. It delivers a flavourful and effortless smoke with a free and open draught just as I had remembered. When the pipe came to me it had been dedicated to English and Balkan blends and I have continued to use it for those blends. It is a great pipe that I will not let sit as long between the next smokes. Michael is a master at pipemaking and delivers a superior product in terms of fit and finish. Have a look at his website, http://www.parkspipes.com/ and I am sure you will enjoy the artful pipes that he has carved and continues to carve.