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Tao

Tier:

Country: Denmark

Price: €300+

Production method:

Notes: Jens Tao Nielsen learned the trade with Nörding, before teaming up with Poul Ilsted to found the Svendborg brand in the 1970s. With considerable luck, buyers of an old production Svendborg can get a pipe made by Tao himself. However, he left the firm in 1981 and has since been making freehand pipes in his own name.

More recently, the Svendborg founders have collaborated again, fathering the 'Tao and Ilsted' line of affordable, pre-turned pipes. These should not be confused with Nielsen's high grades, which bear the name 'Tao' in script, both on the shank and the stem.

Tao is known for short, squat shapes, often with smallish bowl volumes. A grading system (from D to S in ascending order of quality) may still exist, but it does not appear to be used on all pipes.

Comments: Tao's compact, chummy style contradicts many people's notion of a premium Danish pipe - lacking the more elaborate elegance his compatriots often aim for. Yet his sense of practicality is very Danish, indeed: Tao's pipes are made for offhand smoking comfort in everyday situations, and usually geared to the short smoke many Danes find convenient themselves. They are not sculptured gems in the sense of Ilsted's, nor is he as grain-conscious as his friend. In some ways, however, his pipes are more 'useful' than many other Scandinavian briars. It's easy to feel that one needs more such pieces.

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