Stanwell DM 2011
Back in March this year we all got together for the Danish national championships in slow pipe smoking. I was a bit worried about the pipe. Stanwell normally provide the instrument but since they moved their production to Italy, I haven’t seen many new Stanwells in the shops around here.
I needn’t have worried.
The pipe we used was this smooth finished canadian, produced in Italy and designed by Stanwell. The fact that it is smooth is a bit of a revelation. We are used to getting sandblasted models for these championships. I hope the trend continues. It’s not that I don’t like sandblasted pipes but I do prefer to see a little grain in the woodwork. The shank on this pipe is a full 60 mm long and oval in section and the stem is 45 mm. Which makes for a pretty stylish pipe, considering the full length of this thing is 140 mm. The engineering is spot on. Or at least, it is on my pipe. I don’t know how the other 200 examples measure up but I haven’t heard any complaints! It smokes well too. I prefer filling it with Virginia but one of my friends says it smokes very well with flake tobacco too. He should know, he’s been smoking a pipe for about fifty years.
Generally speaking, if this is what we can expect from future Stanwells, then nothing has been lost by moving the production to more southern climes.
Typically, this pipe was “presmoked”, which means it had the black waterglass and carbon mix painted into the bowl. I have never been bothered by this but it can impart a bitter taste to the first smoke. I don’t remember being bothered by this during the competition either, but I would like to try a natural finish in the bowl just to see if it would or could make a difference to the competition.
All in all, I’m pretty pleased with this pipe. It looks the part, smokes well, the engineering is good and I enjoy smoking it. When all is said and done, that’s all that is important.
Specs:
Length: 145 mm
Bowl diameter: 35mm at the widest point.
Bowl height: 44 mm
Chamber: Ø19 mm and 37 mm deep.
Markings:
“DM2011” over “Stanwell” over “Danish Design”. The stem bears the silver “S” logo.
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Footnote: I have one of these, new, unsmoked, tucked away for sale later. The box, sleeve and the dowel tamper that came with it at the competition follow the pipe. If anyone is interested in getting it before it goes onto the sales site later this year, drop me a line.
