39. New Peterson Lines for 2016
Well, it’s the end of April, always an exciting time for Peterson fans as the company launches its new product lines. If the brochure I received from Tom Palmer earlier this week is any indication, this is going to be an outstanding year for the company. Peterson is debuting no less than seven new lines, not counting the Pipe of the Year, the Christmas pipe, and the Father’s Day. As you look through the new offerings, remember these pipes aren’t out yet, except for a stray Pipe of the Year or two in Ireland, so don’t worry your distributor or pipe shop yet. Just keep an eye out or ear to the ground and they should come over the horizon here in the U.S. by late May or the middle of June, maybe even earlier. (1) Champagne Spigot As the name would indicate, this is a high-grade new line. It’s got a medium-brown smooth finish and acrylic champagne-colored sterling spigot mouthpiece. The army spigot goes back to the 1906 catalog, as I’m sure you’ve heard me say, but was not re-introduced by Peterson until the late 1970s. If you’re new to the idea of the army (or spigot) pipe, the main thing you need to know is that these are extremely rugged pipes: you can break them down, hot or cold, leaving the stem separated for as long as you like without harming the integrity of the pipe. I’m thinking someone needs to make a small field pouch to carry one around disassembled. Maybe this is something Neil Flancbaum at Smokin’ Holsters could do? 12 shapes. (2) Pipe of the Year (shape D20) Somewhere I heard that Conor Palmer wanted each year’s POY to be substantially different from the one offered the year before. If true, he certainly made that a reality in the contrast between last year’s 150th Anniversary Founders Edition, an XXL Oom-Paul, and this year’s slender chimney. Peterson made a few one-off chimneys back toward the mid-twentieth century, always quarter-bent and usually with very small chamber geometries. This is the first genuine straight chimney shape they’ve ever made. It looks fantastic, even quite unique among pipe shapes today. It reminds me a bit of a deflated Tom Eltang Tubos. Once you see it, in fact, it’s a little difficult to get out of your mind. It is offered with vulcanite stem, according to James Fox at Pipe Divan, who has a couple of them in as I write this. Here’s the measurements given for the smooth version: Length: 145mm Height: 57mm Diameter: 32mm Mouthpiece: Fishtail Bowl Depth: 50mm Inside Diameter: 19mm Weight: 40g I’m curious to know if anyone has experience in smoking a straight chimney: how does it compare to a more traditional bowl geometry? Is it difficult to keep lit during the last third of the bowl? In smooth, rustic, and sandblast. (3) Dublin & London Along with the Supreme, the Dublin & London was one of Peterson’s highest grade lines, appearing…