Dr. Grabow pipes have been produced for over 60 years in a little town near the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina called Sparta. Sparta is home to just over 1800 people, but they produce over 200,000 pipes a year using quality Mediterranean briar wood. Undergoing a painstaking 52 step process before being shipped out, these Dr. Grabow Grand Duke Smooth pipes can handle your finest pipe tobacco with ease. Dr. Grabow pipes are pre-smoked with tobacco by a machine to help the break-in process become quicker and easier.