Rattrays - 2000 Years Bog Oak 18 - 9mm Filter Pipe

 These pipes have finally arrived in stock after much hype across the internet, I can confirm that these pipes do live up to the hype, we launched these at the UK 2018 Pipe show and the feedback was phenomenal. These are the first sensibly priced Bog Oak pipes that I have come across with the added bonus of taking a 9mm filter. Rattray's produce extremely high quality pipes and even though this is a new raw material to them the pipes are made with the same attention to detail and quality of their briar pipes. Unfortunately these pipes have been extremely popular and we cannot get hold of any more until the winter months so act quickly to avoid disappointment. 

Charles Rattray is still a well-known name in the pipe smoking world, his tobaccos are highly rated by connoisseur smokers. Located in Perth the Rattrays tobacconist not only sold tobaccos, but like most tobacconists blended on site too. His skills with tobacco eventually saw the shop become a blending house in its own right. While Charles never produced his own pipes, he worked closely with English pipe makers for his own shop pipes. In more recent years the Perth factory has now closed and the brand was saved by German blending master Kohlhouse & Kopp.

O Kopp has been the driving force behind the Rattrays pipes, using a number of traditional makers in St Claude (Chacom & Butz Choquin) and also by factories in Italy. The use of various makers allows the collection to have a very wide range of shapes, made using mass production methods dating back over 100 years. Not afraid to go against the flow, the collection contains shapes which have become desirable and very rarely produced. 

Morta was first used as pipe making material during the Second World War. The shortage of briar left manufactures trying out various woods and Morta, (or Bog Oak) became a popular choice. After the war briar began to be used again and these other materials fell away. Leaving only a small number of Artisan carvers continuing to work with it.

One of the biggest drawbacks to Morta is obtaining pieces suitable for pipe making. Large oak logs are extracted from bogs throughout Europe. The logs have spent thousands of years encapsulated in thick peat and slow fossilising. The acidity of the peat eats away at parts of the wood, meaning only the very heart of the wood can be used. A large log may only be suitable for a few pipes, making it potentially very time consuming material to use. After so much time in the bog, the oak is stained with a deep colour, resulting in a beautiful look.