BIG-LINE Collection Fiammata – Giant Free Hand

Italian workshop Castello is highly regarded for their neoclassically-inclined works, with many of their most famous designs favoring large, robust bowls. This stack certainly falls in line with that style, though sets itself apart immediately from almost every other Stack that we’ve seen from the brand. At over six and a half inches long, this is quite the lengthy piece, with much of this length thanks to the paneled, square-shaped shank-and-stem combination that tapers out from a wide transition. The stem here is a vibrant white acrylic that’s very gently downturned before the button, keeping the smoking posture nearly identical to perfectly straight iterations, though adds a touch of dynamism to the profile. The underside’s panel continues into the heel, making this pipe a sure-sitting smoker and giving the bowl a large base to build its walls. Said walls are thick and extremely tall, coming in at nearly three inches in height and taking on an Egg-like shape that bows out slightly at its mid-set waist. In addition, these walls have been carved with Castello’s distinctive spiral pattern, with wrapping ridgelines curling around and up to the plateau-crowned rim. Being such a large pipe, this piece has received Castello’s “Great Line” stamping, and all of that space provides plenty of room to showcase the Collection series’ vibrant auburn stain. Beneath this stain rises dense streaks of straight grain that surround the bowl and flanks of the shank, earning this pipe the coveted “Fiammata” stamping, denoting its incredible grain.