Things to Love About Uruguay: Raleigh Pipes
Uruguay has a lot going for it, though it may be far from perfect. There's always room for improvement, and now Uruguay has improved recently in a way that I hadn't really expected: Uruguay now produces some top quality high-end pipes.
The pipes in question are called Raleigh Pipes, and they're made by a couple of master artisans and good friends of mine, Miguel and Diego. The name "Raleigh" was my own little contribution, when they were stuck for a name, suggesting that they name the pipes after one of the great forefathers of the tobacco hobby; Sir Walter Raleigh, who was credited with bringing Tobacco to Europe. As far as I know, there's no pipe of note until now that had been named in his very noteworthy honor, and it was about time that got corrected, so I'm glad I could do my bit.
Aside from that, I should note that I don't directly have anything to do with these pipes, except being an interested and happy customer... that's just in case if any of you might think this is a shill because I'm in business with them or anything. I'm not. I'm just astounded that some truly great, truly beautiful high-end pipes are being produced right here in Uruguay.
There were pipes produced here before, like there are in most parts of the western world, but (like most places) those were very low quality pipes made from lower-quality wood.
Raleigh pipes are made from high-quality briar imported from Europe, and are crafted brilliantly. These are no $10 pipes, and they're not going to be found in any dimestore here in Montevideo, they're meant for sale on the international market, and retail anywhere from $200 on up.
Here's some pictures:
And this last one is mine, one of the very first pipes they made (for the moment its my only Raleigh pipe, but it certainly won't be my last!):
So there you go. If you're interested in getting a Raleigh pipe, send me an email and I'll get you in touch with the pipemakers. Keep in mind that they aren't cheap (they're high-end pipes) but that relatively speaking their prices are still pretty low, because they're new. Its only a matter of time until they start getting more demand, and then (as tends to happen in these cases) you'll only wish you could get one at the prices you can get them now.
RPGPundit
Currently Smoking: Raleigh shell freehand + Esoterica's Penzance
Post a Comment