This week, The Piperack has a nice selection of unsmoked Ardors - not to mention a fantastic group of estates from Peterson, Stanwell, Ferndown, Barling's Make, Ashton and many more, so let's get to it!
Ardor is run by the Rovera family, now in their fourth generation of pipemakers. Since 1911, the Rovera family has been creating pipes, but it has been in the past 15 years or so that the Rovera brand eschewed mass production in favor of high-quality, unique and distinctive pipes under the Ardor name. Dorelio Rovera personally hand picks only the finest blocks of extra quality briar from all across Italy, and then air-cures those blocks an additional ten years before carving Ardor pipes. The process gives the pipe a flavor that is extremely distinctive and unlike other air-cured pipes. Both the flavor of the wood and the unique beauty of the pipes have created a legion of fans, especially for their larger pipes. Check out the "Giant" Poker - taller than a coffee cup - or the stunning smooth Marte Fantasy, not to mention two new "Chubby" series pipes and more.
In estates this week, we have quite a nice selection of English pipes as well as a few from Denmark. This week's "Piperack Pick" goes to the rarely-seen Ferndown Silver Spigot Rhodesian. Les Wood is a world-class English pipemaker. With 25 years of experience at Dunhill, and also being one of the top Silversmiths in the world, Ferndowns are excellent pipes all the way around. Oil-cured like Ashtons, many consider them to be as good as, if not better smoking pipes than Ashtons and Dunhills. Find out for yourself! This particular Ferndown is a beautiful Bark in very good to excellent condition. The shape of this one is a classic bent Rhodesian, with Les's GORGEOUS silverwork - in this case, a beautiful silver spigot. The pipe features a smooth rim, ebonite stem and of course that lovely carved finish. A little back-story on this pipe; it's been part of my personal collection for the last 10 years. I searched for 3 years to find one, and was informed that Les no longer makes this shape. In fact, it's the only one I've ever seen. I've smoked Virginias in it exclusively and while I swore it'd never let it go, it's time to move on as I find myself not smoking it as often as I used to. I'm sure it will make the next owner as happy as it made me, and I'm sure you won't see another anytime soon! Rated 9.5 out of 10, this one is in great shape, all cleaned up and ready to go. Also from England, there's another Ferndown - this one a very large bent apple - as well as pipes from Castleford, a pair of Ashtons (check out the cute little 1X Lovat Oldchurch), a pre-transition Barling's Make Fossil, a pair of Petersons (including a rarely seen Peterson Freehand) and many more. From Denmark, there's a nifty Nording 11 bent apple in fantastic shape, a Sara Eltang billiard and more.
Don't miss the Sixten-design Reg'd No Stanwell bent Acorn, or the 2008 Ashton Brindle Author! The next update comes September 10th with more great pipes from around the world!
