The famous Radice from Italy
 Radice symbol |
February 8,1999 I got an almost unsmoked estate pipe from Italy. (It was my first Radice, whereas today, June 2001, when adding these lines, I own four of them).
I had heard this brand mentioned quite often e.g. in the a.s.p., but do not know much about it yet. My impression is that Radice belongs to the highly valued names among Italian pipes. Perhaps it is of the same class as Ser Jacopo, Don Carlos or even Castello. As I do not know it writing this, I must find out! This will not be a problem, just a simple question in the a.s.p. and I'll receive numerous replies. ;) |
|
A couple of days has passed since writing the above and now I have found out from the alfanet.it that Luigi Radice began his artistry with Castello, then co-founded Caminetto. Since 1980 he has worked with his two sons Gianluca and Marzio making pipes under his own esteemed name. He has got a distinctive style of his own. His craftmanship and crativity is valued high. Their workshop is in the beautiful village of Cucciago in Northern Italy.
Radice's contact information:
| |
My newest Radice, sandblasted Radice Lovat from May 2001
My second newest Radice, straight Rind bulldog, Feb. 29. 2000
First smoking experiences
I filled half the tobacco chamber with S.Gawith's 'Best Brown Flake'. After the charring
light I immediately noticed the high smoking quality of this Radice. The taste came out
pure, soft and mellow, just like it is supposed when smoking a high class Italian pipe.
There is a certain difference between most of the English and most of the Italian pipes,
the best English pipes, i.e. Dunhills and L. Woods (a.k.a. Ferndown) have this dark,
nutty flavour, whereas the most Italian pipes are more light, I would say, neutral tasting.
There is an exception, though: The very same day I got this Radice, I received an
Upshall bulldog from Clive Humm. It tastes more like an Italian than an English
pipe to me. A great pipe it is anyhow!
A "stacked" Rind, Jan.19. 2000
Handsome and beautifully finished Radice Rind from left
This Rind is stamped as "G O" on the bottom of shank
Excellent puffing experiences!
I filled the Radice Rind with Dunhill "Elizabethan Mixture", which is not my favourite,
even if it is a good neutral Va blend. As I suspected, the pipe is GREAT! Very mellow,
almost cool smokes with no gurgles! I place Radices very high on my personal ranking
system. Thank you once more Lloyd!
My first Radice, "Clear F" billiardish "apple"
 Radice "Clear" from left |
The shape of this pipe is perhaps best described as a Billiard. It has also some resemblance with the Apple shape, and perhaps because of its stem, also to a Zulu. Actually the bowl is somewhere between a Billiard, Apple and Pot. |
 Radice from right |
The grain of this briar has some rare beauty! It is almost straight grain, or "fiammata" as the Italians call it. I paid only 87.79 euros (ITL 170.000), or about USD 100 for this personal looking and seemingly excellent pipe. I am not aware of the actual price level of Radice pipes, but I believe this was a good bargain. |
|
I can see not fills or puttys and the grain is good. There are no bite marks on the bit and the tobacco chamber is as pure as in a new pipe. Also the mortise is thoroughly cleaned. I have no doubts about the puffing characteristics of my new Radice "Clear F" marked pipe. This I shall know after a few days and I'll come back writing about how it smokes.
A couple of days after writing the above: As I anticipated this pipe is an excellent puffer! I filled 1/3 of a bowl with "Engine 99" from C&D and thoroughly enjoyed the mellow puffs and perfect draw. Only at the very bottom of the bowl a slight dampness began to emerge, but I had not used a cleaner at all! the basic models from Radice from the cheaper to the more expensive end (copied from the "pipeguy" site, my "Clear F" underlined). | |
grade price (USD) from 1994(!) Old Country 195.00 Rind Carved 185.00 Rind/Smooth 215.00 Sandgrain 200.00 Silkcut s/b 230.00 Underwood 215.00 Rubino Smooth 285.00 Brown Smooth 285.00 Brown F 375.00 Radice Smooth 275.00 Radice F 375.00 Clear Smooth 335.00 Clear F 395.00 Clear OP 395.00 Clear FF 525.00 Clear FFF 720.00 Gocce D'Oro 720.00 |
 Two brown spots of Radice in the "military bit"
|
To my pipe photos index page
Created February 11.1999, updated June 9. 2001