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Among the brand lovers, there are always doubts as to the quality of the pipes and their relationship with the period when it was manufactured. It is often said that Dunhill only manufactured good pipes until mid-1968 and after that, the quality was compromised. The patents Era ended in 1955, but it is said that good pipes continued to be made until mid-1968. In an article called "The Myth of Brand and Maker in Pipesmoking", Dr. Fred Hanna brings to the light of our consideration what might justify this thought. | Among the brand lovers, there are always doubts as to the quality of the pipes and their relationship with the period when it was manufactured. It is often said that Dunhill only manufactured good pipes until mid-1968 and after that, the quality was compromised. The patents Era ended in 1955, but it is said that good pipes continued to be made until mid-1968. In an article called "The Myth of Brand and Maker in Pipesmoking", Dr. Fred Hanna brings to the light of our consideration what might justify this thought. | ||
<blockquote><q>Dunhill is famous for its oil curing techniques and this is believed to be a source of its peculiar and particular taste and flavor characteristics. On the surface this sounds quite neat and tidy. But just a bit of analysis immediately makes such claims quite suspect. Does every Dunhill have that same character? I could find no evidence for this in the tastings that I have done with Dunhills. One vital question concerns when a particular Dunhill pipe was made. Bill Taylor of Ashton pipe fame has remarked that during all the twenty-plus years that he worked for Dunhill, that he never observed any oil applied to a Dunhill bowl. David Field told me on two occasions that he is convinced that oil curing stopped after 1968, and after that Dunhill pipes were quite different. Thus, Dunhills after the mid-1960s do not appear to have been oil cured at all and, on top of that, their bowls seem to have come from different suppliers.</q> Dr. Fred Hanna.</blockquote> | <blockquote><q>Dunhill is famous for its oil curing techniques and this is believed to be a source of its peculiar and particular taste and flavor characteristics. On the surface this sounds quite neat and tidy. But just a bit of analysis immediately makes such claims quite suspect. Does every Dunhill have that same character? I could find no evidence for this in the tastings that I have done with Dunhills. One vital question concerns when a particular Dunhill pipe was made. Bill Taylor of Ashton pipe fame has remarked that during all the twenty-plus years that he worked for Dunhill, that he never observed any oil applied to a Dunhill bowl. David Field told me on two occasions that he is convinced that oil curing stopped after 1968, and after that Dunhill pipes were quite different. Thus, Dunhills after the mid-1960s do not appear to have been oil cured at all and, on top of that, their bowls seem to have come from different suppliers.</q> Dr. Fred Hanna - The Myth of Brand and Maker in Pipesmoking.</blockquote> | ||
In 1967, Carreras Ltd (Rothmans International) purchased 50% of the Dunhill capital from the company and from members of the family and three of their directors joined the Dunhill board. Is it possible that this new council has defined any administrative measures that have influenced the production of the subsequent products? We have signs of transition in that period, but we don't know if it was for that reason, but it is a possibility that it cannot be ruled out. It is also a period that the company begins to reposition itself in the market with male accessories, leaving tobacco-related products in the background. | In 1967, Carreras Ltd (Rothmans International) purchased 50% of the Dunhill capital from the company and from members of the family and three of their directors joined the Dunhill board. Is it possible that this new council has defined any administrative measures that have influenced the production of the subsequent products? We have signs of transition in that period, but we don't know if it was for that reason, but it is a possibility that it cannot be ruled out. It is also a period that the company begins to reposition itself in the market with male accessories, leaving tobacco-related products in the background. | ||
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<blockquote><q>Since the early 1960's Algerian briar has been largely unavailable to Dunhill and much harder briar (primarly Grecian) has had to be used for the finish. As a consequence since the mid-1960s the Shell finish is generally found with a significantly shallower blast.</q> Loring, J. C., The Dunhill Briar Pipe, The Patent Years and After (self-published, Chicago, 1998).</blockquote> | <blockquote><q>Since the early 1960's Algerian briar has been largely unavailable to Dunhill and much harder briar (primarly Grecian) has had to be used for the finish. As a consequence since the mid-1960s the Shell finish is generally found with a significantly shallower blast.</q> Loring, J. C., The Dunhill Briar Pipe, The Patent Years and After (self-published, Chicago, 1998).</blockquote> | ||
Any definitive conclusion may be unfair. The metrics used in defining the concept of "quality loss" may be related to misperceptions of changes or purely subjective values. Even the process of oil curing, that was considered determinant in quality, it seems - in the end, it not so decisive, as we can see in another consideration of Dr. Hanna: | |||
<blockquote><q>Several Dunhill collectors have told me in no uncertain terms that the old patent Dunhills (before 1955) smoke decidedly better than the later models. So, which time frame owns the peculiar Dunhill character? This adds considerable ambiguity to the great taste of a Dunhill. Does oil curing make the difference? Probably not if Dunhill pipes have not been oil cured for perhaps 33 years, and Bill Taylor implies that after a while oil curing is not a factor anyway. Taylor, who oil cures his own Ashton pipes, has stated that the effects of oil curing can no longer be discerned in a pipe after 30 or so bowls of tobacco. In other words, after a sufficient cake has formed and the pipe is well broken-in, the influence of the bowl treatment or curing method becomes negligible. Now where, I ask, is that unique Dunhill character? The cake and the wood itself probably have more influence on taste than the curing method after many, many, smokes.</q> Dr. Fred Hanna - The Myth of Brand and Maker in Pipesmoking.</blockquote> | |||
== About Dunhill Today == <!--T:48--> | == About Dunhill Today == <!--T:48--> | ||