J.T. Cooke 1999 Pipes & Tobaccos Magazine Pipe of the Year Smooth Billiard (Unsmoked Estate)

J.T. Cooke was a Vermont-based American artisan carver with a number of impressive credentials under his belt. Cooke was originally based at Elliot Nachtwalter and Jeorg Jemelka’s The Briar Workshop, in a role which included making pipes for Wilke’s tobacconist in Philadelphia. After leaving the Workshop, Cooke collaborated with Barry Levin in establishing the estate pipes market as we know it, by restoring pipes for Levin’s outfit. During this time, Cooke would also begin to make pipes under his own name. Today, Cooke’s pipes are among the most sought after in the American artisan scene thanks to their distinct and often unparalleled shaping, engineering, and finishing. After 50 years in the craft, Cooke retired from pipe making in 2024.

Back when the great Pipes & Tobaccos Magazine was still going, for a number of years the publication hosted its own “Pipe of the Year.” The magazine contracted some of the greats of then and now, such as Todd Johnson, J. Alan, Vollmer & Nilsson, Peterson, and Stanwell, to create a limited run of special pipes just for its readers. J.T. Cooke was one such great, and was in fact invited twice to make P&T Pipes of the Year, once in 1999, and once more in 2008.

This particular pipe is from the former, the 1999 Pipes & Tobaccos Magazine Pipe of the Year, for which just 250 pipes in total were made. It’s a rare one too, wearing a light red, smooth finish over flame grain briar that would have been a shame to blast over, even for a master like Cooke. The design is essentially one of a large billiard, with proportions and a figure strongly reminiscent of a Dunhill LB or OD 835, though with a little more of Cooke’s hallmark muscle to it. Given Cooke’s famous affinity for such shapes, I imagine the choice of such will have been a no brainer.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original (slightly time-worn) bowl coating. It comes with its original sleeve.

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.74 / 18.79mm

Bowl Depth: 1.74″ / 44.19mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 60g