Molina — "mill" in Italian — is a long-running workshop from Vedano Olona that has built its name on consistency, turning out reliable, well-priced smokers for newcomers and seasoned pipe men alike. The Striato series is the house's traditional line: twelve classic medium shapes cut from carefully selected extra-grade briar, each finished with a Cumberland-colored acrylic stem and a brass ring at the shank, details that give the line its instantly recognizable character. This C535 wears the contrast sandblast, where the blasting raises the briar's grain into a bold, craggy texture and the darker tone settles into the valleys to throw the relief into sharp relief.
Where the Bent Billiard is the most familiar shape in pipedom, this one wears it lean — a tall, slender bowl on a slim shank, coming in featherweight at just 45 grams. That lightness is the whole point: the pipe nearly disappears at the teeth, making it an effortless clencher for a long walk or an afternoon of work with both hands busy. The chamber is cut deep with a narrow bore, a proportion that burns slow and cool and flatters Virginias and Virginia-Perique flakes especially well. Left unfiltered, the draw stays wide open and unobstructed, letting the tobacco speak plainly from light to heel, while the Cumberland acrylic stem resists oxidation and holds its warm mottled tone far longer than vulcanite. Understated and easy to live with, it's a natural first briar and an equally natural everyday companion.
Length: 5.32 in./135 mm | Weight: 1.60 oz./45 g | Bowl Height: 1.89 in./48 mm | Chamber Depth: 1.58 in./40 mm | Chamber Diameter: 0.79 in./20 mm | Outside Diameter: 1.51 in./38 mm | Shape: Bent Billiard | Finish: Contrast Sandblast | Material: Extra-grade Briar | Stem: Cumberland acrylic | Band: Brass | Filter: None | Country: Italy
