Recently two similar Drucquer-LaCroix pipes were posted and considering that Drucquer’s was just a local (Berkeley, Calif.) pipe and tobacco shop, the amount of interest in the pipes surprised me. Although some of the Drucquer blends rank up there with the world’s best (in my opinion, their old Trafalgar and Cook’s #5 are among the best Latakia blends ever…other pipe aficiionados include their Red Lion, Royal Ransom and maybe especially #805 as equally worthy) who besides Bay Area people knew of Robert Rex’s trip to Saint Claude, France to acquire some great old, pretty much forgotten briar? Well, I was wrong again. This piece is a Grp. 5 size sandblast with a crisp, clean rim and a vulcanite stem on which the Drucquer red lion is fully intact. There are minor teeth marks on both the top and bottom of the stem, nothing deep.
6” long, bowl 1.9” tall. Weight: 1.25 oz., 34 grams.