With a firm handle on a wide range of shaping styles, one never quite knows what to expect when encountering a piece from Il Duca's Max Rimensi From the deftly-rendered English classics to the wilder Danish/Japanese-inspired renditions, the result is always fantastic, and unmistakable as anything other than an Il Duca pipe, with this bent Dublin being a fine example of Max's craftsmanship.

Surging forth toward the flaring, smooth finished rim from a firm, Acorn-esque heel in traditional Dublin style, the tucked transition ensures further focus on the bowl. Bearing one of Il Duca's vibrant contrast stains of earthy ochre and rust tones over a sandblast for an extra organic finish, Rimensi has accented this piece with a ferrule of boxwood not on the stummel but along the base of the stem itself, allowing the shank face to be left free for a rugged showing of plateau.

— Adam M. O'Neill