I acquired the above Root Briar Rhodesian "Special Grain" through an eBay auction. I usually don't purchase pipes on eBay but due to the cupojoes.com email address, I thought the seller was from an establishment with which I was familiar. Turns out I was correct. The pipe was listed as "New" but the pipe was for sale under "Estate Pipes" so I emailed the seller, who turned out to be Eric from CupOJoes and this is what he said about it (reprinted with permission from the author):

"Actually, it's not an estate pipe. I received directly from Dunhill about a year ago. Every year, Dunhill releases a handful (literally 4 or 5 pieces) of pipes from past productions. My problem is, if I sell it on the website as new, inevitably, someone will complain about the date. Dunhill feels like they're shipping these special, rare pieces, and I see where they're coming from, but it definitely causes some confusion. In any event, the pipe is new from the factory."

So I went ahead and bid on it, and thankfully obtained it. Its probably one of the more rare pipes I've owned.