Peterson Dublin

If you’ve had a chance to flip through the new fall issue of Pipes & Tobaccos, you’ve doubtless found William C. Nelson’s great write-up of young English pipe-maker Chris Askwith. Askwith’s prices are really reasonable (extraordinary may be a better word) for artisan pipes, and from all accounts, his engineering and finish work are spot-on. While reading about one collector’s marvelous experiences with Askwith pipes, I noticed myself smoking my usual—a Peterson—in fact, a recent-production Aran 120. Now the thing about it is, my Aran 120 Dublin is a stellar smoker. It’s got a P-Lip as you can see, and its chamber is a marvel—loaded with a good Virginia flake its 20 x 41mm can take me through a very long evening, well over two hours, with just the right amount of moisture (never any need for a pipe cleaner with a straight P-Lip). In short, with everything my pipe-smoker’s heart could desire. And yet . . . As I was enjoying the photos of Askwith’s pipes and thinking about my own Aran, it came to me that I must be a “meat & potatoes” man, one of those plain fellows who’d as soon have a good burger and fries as anything. Take me across the pond and it would be fish & chips, I’ve no doubt. Askwith only makes about 150 pipes a year—fifty less than the smallest Limited Edition run of any Peterson pipe in the past few decades (that being the 200 pipe edition of the Racing Green and Claret collections back in 1996). Like most pipe-makers, by his own admission Askwith isn’t getting rich, but is certainly enjoying his work, which is as it should be. You won’t read any write-ups in praise of Peterson’s Aran line in Pipes & Tobaccos or anyplace else (but here) I’d imagine, but one lesson I’ve been working on for the past few years is this: learn what you like. I’ve heard it from Rick Newcombe and I’ve read it in the writings of Fred Hanna, two collectors whose opinions I greatly value. Rick of course is known for his passion for Danish pipes, and Fred for straight grains. I understand why each man likes what he likes, and it’s thanks in part to them that I think I’m beginning to understand why I like what I like. I like the Aran 120’s tubular shank, for one thing. The shank is so massive that for awhile in the 1970s it was produced as a straight System. As you can see in the cutaway demonstrator of the 120, this reduced the depth chamber considerably—from 40mm to 29. But the point is that like most pipes coming out of Sallynoggin, the 120’s DNA is replete with the Peterson design architecture. Whether or not a Peterson pipe is drilled with a reservoir, most of them could be.   120 Straight System Cutaway  I also like the fact that in our era of constant shape design spin, the 120 has been in production since…