Pipe of the Year 2011 Smooth Bent Egg (86/100) (Rock Maple Inserts) Tobacco Pipe

Born in 1915, Herbert Nelson Brigham began working with his father, Roy, at Brigham pipes as a young man in 1933, helping to develop the very Rock Maple system for which they are so well known. Taking up the reigns after his father, he served as president of Brigham until in turn passing stewardship of the family business on to his own son, Mike Brigham - though he nonetheless remained to oversee production, where the staff knew him simply as "Mr. B", until retiring fully in 1995. After his passing in September of 2010, Brigham chose to issue its 2011 Pipe of the Year in his memory, basing the design off of one of his personal favorites, both to work with and to smoke - the Danish-style freehands of the Brigham "President" series.

So it is that we have before us this deep-chambered, smooth-shaped, flared-shanked, rugged-crowned bent Egg; about as Danish as a freehand design can get. This one, number 86/100, comes in a fittingly Danish-style finish as well: a deep, smoky bengal stain.

And as with all these presentation pieces, the briar comes complete with its own multi-pocket pipe bag, in the original Brigham brown-and-orange livery.

- Eric N. Squires