Herriot Pipes Smooth Eskimo Handmade Briar Pipe, New

In 2003, one of France’s preeminent pipe luminaries, Erwin Van Hove, jubilantly proclaimed, “Hallelujah! One of the very best American artisans has recently settled on French soil.” Two decades later, Antoine Grenard, director of Chapuis-Comoy and president of the Confrérie des Maîtres-Pipiers de Saint-Claude, oversaw the induction of another artisan originally from the Anglophone world into its hallowed brotherhood. Van Hove was, of course, welcoming Trever Talbert. The Confrérie, on the other hand, was welcoming Chris Herriot. Parallels between the two are difficult to ignore; both were outsiders who laid down roots in France and, crucially, thrived by it. Both forged connections with the Francophone pipe community, developing friendships and associations that would help them lay the foundations of their respective brands. And both would build something on these foundations that garnered them significant national and international acclaim. In Herriot’s case, this meant apprenticing under Bruno Nuttens (himself a former student of Pierre Morel and Tom Eltang), spending several days each week laboring in Nuttens’ Charpey workshop, and the rest of his time in his own. Given the amount of time that Chris Herriot has been spending in Tom Eltang’s workshop of late, it was all but inevitable that he’d start to explore one of the latter’s signature shapes, the “Eskimo,” also known as the “Inuit.” I remember speaking to Chris a few months ago and hearing how both excited and daunted he was by the prospect, not least because his studies of the form were being undertaken with its creator. Safe to say, Herriot knocked it out of the park, producing renditions like this one. Herriot’s approach differs a little from Eltang’s, which reflects well on Herriot as an artisan in his own right, and has led to something that may appeal even to those not typically enamored such a design. Notably, Herriot’s approach is nowhere near as squat as Eltang’s, allowing for a more substantial chamber capacity and a very comfortable hand-feel.   Details: Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm Bowl Width: 0.70 / 17.78mm Bowl Depth: 1.44″ / 36.57mm Weight: 2.4oz / 70g