Borkum Riff Cherry Liqueur

(1.33)
Borkum Riff Cherry Liqueur flavored tobacco is a high quality, mild mixture, which combines a delicious blend of light aromatic Virginia and rich, cool smoking burley tobaccos, to create an exquisite taste and aroma, enhanced with the sweetness of a fine cherry liqueur.

Details

Brand Borkum Riff
Blended By Swedish Match
Manufactured By  
Blend Type Aromatic
Contents Burley, Virginia
Flavoring Alcohol / Liquor, Cherry
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 50 grams pouch
Country Sweden
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Mild
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Very Strong
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

1.33 / 4
1

4

8

45

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 58 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 16, 2012 Very Mild Strong Very Mild Pleasant
The cherry liqueur is very syrupy with a noticeable chemical taste. The lightly nutty, woody, earthy burly, and grassy, tangy citrusy Virginia are fairly sublimated, though they would show up a little after the half way point. The strength and taste levels are very mild. Virtually has no nicotine. Burns hot, quickly, and will bite even when puffed slowly. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, but no dottle. Requires a tad less than an average number of relights. Has a pleasant, lightly lingering room note. An all day smoke.

-JimInks
12 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 19, 2004 Very Mild Extra Strong Mild Pleasant
Dastardly, despicable and a downright abomination.

Shame on me. I knew better.
10 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 08, 2014 Mild to Medium Very Strong Mild to Medium Overwhelming
I bought this on a whim, knowing full well its bad reputation. Can a brand that has survived decades really be so bad? Yes it can.

There are probably low production cost issues that keep this sort of tobacco on shelves while esteemed brands disappear. Ribbon cut virginias predominate here, and these tobaccos, prior to casing, might well end up in cigarettes as well. Certainly this tobacco burns very hot and very fast. I would never risk a pipe trying it, but I have little doubt you could light up a bowl of this stuff, come back in 25 minutes and find it all burnt to a white ash.

So what is happening with this tobacco? Who smokes it and why? I think the answer is special occasion smokers and newcomers to the pipe. It stays lit by itself, pumps out a huge amount of cherry scented smoke to tell the world a pipe is alight, and is mercifully short. For the life of me I couldn't get a bowl to last longer than 30 minutes. I honestly believe the label tells no lies here. I think some nasty cherry liqueur HAS been sprayed abundantly on this tobacco, and the sugars and alcohol function as accelerants.
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 17, 2019 Mild Mild Mild Very Pleasant
I have had many experiences with Borkum Riff over the years, mostly for the good. This blend was a pleasant surprise. The pouch aroma is wonderful with hints of cherry but mostly a full, rich pipe-tobacco scent. Upon lighting, the cherry note is light and compliments the burley and VA very well. As the cherry casing fades the tobacco flavor and strength begin to dominate. If you like the nostalgia of a classic cherry pouch blend that's widely available, give this one a try. You could spend a whole lot more and not do much better. The price and availability of all Borkum Riff mixtures have inducted many a pipe-smoker over the years, and this blend is no exception.
Pipe Used: Any
PurchasedFrom: PipesandCigars.com
Age When Smoked: New Pouch
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 25, 2019 Mild Mild to Medium Mild Pleasant to Tolerable
I suspect that the majority of reviewers who trash this blend do not like Cherry in their tobacco. I can appreciate a good cherry so here we go. The Virginia and Burley tobacco are top quality. The moisture level in the pouch was just about right and the cut makes for easy packing. The pouch aroma is that of good tobacco tipped with a cherry liquor. That is important because the taste is more liquor than cherry to me. It lights well and provides a decent amount of smoke. The taste is just like the aroma in the pouch. To me, the Burley comes through very nicely while the Virginia stays in the background. The Cherry acts to sweeten rather than turn this into a cherry bomb. The room aroma is more tobacco than anything else. I am saying that the room aroma will not win non-smokers over only because of the tobacco side. There is actually not enough cherry in the aroma to cover it up. The same is true with the taste. There is quality tobacco with some cherry sweetness, but it is more of a liquor sweetness. I am reminded of Sir Walter Raleigh Full Aroma here. SWR is much more more Burley based, but it you love that blend, like I do, you should try this. The taste remains the same down to the bottom of the bowl. The ash is find and jumps out with a tap or two. This will ghost your pipe so be advised. This review is brought to you by a guy who trashed Captain Black Cheryy, but loved Peter Stokkebye's Cherry.
Pipe Used: MM Legend Straight
PurchasedFrom: pipesandcigars.com
Age When Smoked: Fresh
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 15, 2016 Extremely Mild Medium to Strong Extremely Mild (Flat) Pleasant
Admittedly, it has been many years since I tried this but I remember it clearly. A mixture of light and dark tobaccos, ribbon cut, quite dry. Strong aroma of artificial cherry. Lights easily and burns like paper. Also tastes like shredded cardboard infused with cherry flavouring.

Don't smoke in a pipe you ever intend to use for anything else.
Pipe Used: Dr.Grabow bent billiard
PurchasedFrom: Generic tobacco shop
Age When Smoked: As purchased
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 03, 2014 Overwhelming Extra Strong Overwhelming Tolerable
This was my first tobacco. I bought a Dr. Grabow "Duke" and a pouch of this stuff in the spring of 1984.

The pouch smelled really good, at the time. Smoking it was another matter entirely. It was really wet, so it was steamy. The charring light offered the only time that I could actually detect a cherry-like flavor. After that my tastebuds were too burned by the steam to taste anything.

I now understand that the steam oozing out of the bit of the heavily- varnished cheap pipe was a blessing in disguise. If I had been able to taste anything, my pallette would have been subjected to the flavor of burning cherry-flavored plastic. Just imagine taking some cherry cough drops and burning them in a cast iron skillet. I remember having a terrible cough just from the tiny amount that I accidentally inhaled.

This is the kind of product that turns people away from pipe smoking. Unfortunately many first-time smokers start off with something like this, and the pipe ends up in a drawer for a year before finally making it to the trashcan.
Pipe Used: Dr. Grabow
PurchasedFrom: Drug store
Age When Smoked: Fresh
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 05, 2014 Strong Medium to Strong Overwhelming Very Strong
Most foul tasting product I have ever smoked. Would never bother with this brand again even if it was free. The smoke was full of chemical, and the taste before and after was very bad. Could not even finish a full bowl.
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 18, 2009 Medium to Strong Medium to Strong Medium to Full Tolerable
After a 20 year hiatus from this blend, I just, groan, endured a bowl of this junk. After half a bowl I gave up and lit a cigarette just to try to restore my palette.....didn't work!

While this stuff smells rather nice in the pouch, once lit in the bowl it stinks and as far as taste goes, I haven't a clue....it turned my tongue into leather from the very first puff. Burns very hot in the bowl and there's lots of gurgle in the bottom of the bowl.

I found this strong and offensive. The room note is what I consider just tolerable.

Getting the junk out of my bowl was a chore. It wanted to glue itself in there.

Now I remember why I used to mix this with Amphora Regular 20 years ago. I would have thought BR would have got this one right by now.

Believe me....STAY AWAY from this stuff!!!

Oct.3 2009 Update:

I've found a way to make this horrible stuff at least tolerable: Mix it 50/50 with Amphora Mellow (yes I know, what a terrible waste of Amphora Mellow) and let it air dry for a week. It will bite a lot less once all the volatile oils have evaporated and I actually found it improved the room aroma a wee bit. Sure, it burned a bit faster but no hotter....how could it get any hotter? Besides, short to tossing it in the bin, what better way to use up a costly, but crappy tobacco quickly!
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 09, 2018 Mild Strong Overwhelming Tolerable
WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS I THINKING ? ... all the negative reviews and I thought I could potentially find some redeeming qualities that others might have missed from "Bark-n-Ruff" ... well it didn't happen. After smoking this mess ... I shred the tobacco pouch and loaded it into my pipe ... it smoked much better than the tobacco !!!

Do yourself a favor ... just don't do it !
Pipe Used: Poor Old Corncob Ruined for Life
PurchasedFrom: Name has been withheld to protect an innocent retailer!
Age When Smoked: Freshly Terrible
3 people found this review helpful.
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