Borkum Riff Ruby

I've been a pipe smoker for more than a decade and I've smoked tens of blends on my journey even before I've started doing reviews. Then, one day, I was in a tobacco shop and I saw a selection of Borkum Riffs, which I've always avoided. Then I've decided "What the heck?". Let's try one and see if it's as bad as people say. I always give tobaccos a chance.

Upon opening the pouch I had my first alarm signal. I've smoked cheap tobaccos before, even gas station blends, but never have I had one that smelled like this. Very sweet and cherry, that's true, and very pungent, but too chemically enhanced. It smells like candy or car air freshener. Not a good sign...

With some trepidation I've loaded the pipe and lit it up. Not a minute in and already I was starting to regret my choice. It started to burn like the fires of Hades and began to feel a scorch on my tongue. I immediately took the pipe apart and put a filter (which I HIGHLY recommend for this one; your tongue will thank you for it). That made it a bit more bearable.

As for the smoke, the pouch note pretty much translates to the taste itself (which isn't saying much, considering how uncomfortable I was with the pouch note). After a while it started to make me gag, feel uneasy and somewhat sickly, but what was started must be finished. A strong "cherry" note that tastes more like lipstick, cotton candy or chewing gum. I like aromatics and sweet blends, but this is WAY outside my comfort zone. It's not even worth talking about tobacco taste, because there isn't much. A truly horrifying experience indeed.

After letting it breathe for a week in the pouch and then letting it dry on a paper towel for almost 90 minutes, I've decided to try it again, give it a second chance. The result is bearable, but not by much. It doesn't burn quite as hot and that sickly sweet topping has toned down a little. I still find the taste bad and I have to put it down quite often as it coats my mouth with a pretty unpleasant, sickly sweet taste that's clearly not tobacco.

After two unhappy experiences, I can say that this is clearly not for me, though I can understand why others might like it. And I do believe that it's overpriced. I've smoked cheaper tobaccos that tasted better than this and that I would even revisit sometime, which is definitely not something that I will do with this one (or any other Borkum Riff, for that matter). Still, I've survived and now I can scratch this brand with a very thick line off my list.

One of the first pipe tobaccos I tried. Luckily, it didn't take long for me to realize that if I wanted something similar to orange, I should eat an orange and that if I wanted something with a flavor similar to Borkum Riff Cherry (Ruby), I should buy myself a gum.

Smell: Chemical, quite strong. Yes, maybe cherry-ish, but not natural. It reminds me the smell of sweet fruity candies.

Taste: In the first puffs I detect that cherry-ish topping. Then it fades and it has no flavor other than mild and featureless tobacco. While smoking this tobacco I thought it wasn’t worth finishing the bowl. Since smoking is not the healthiest practice out there, I prefer to do it if I really enjoy the tobacco I’m smoking. Unfortunately this was not the case.

Ratio Smell/Taste: Even if the smell of the tobacco in the tin is quite strong, I did not find that distinct flavor in the smoke (if not in the first puffs). On the one hand this is good, because the smell is not the most natural smell you want from an aromatic, on the other hand it is disappointing, because you are left with nothing.

Moisture: Some time for drying the tobacco is necessary.

Filter: With and without.

Ghosting: Medium.

Se trata del típico tabaco para pipa de los últimos años de Borkum Riff. Una mezcla que podría llegar a ser correcta si no tuviese un topping puramente químico que hace que la fumada llegue incluso a ser desagradable. El olor en frío es marcadamente químico, con un dominio predominante de olor alcohólico aderezado con lo que se supone que es "cereza". Humedad bastante adecuada para fumar desde la bolsa, encendido fácil, y mantiene bastante la brasa. El problema es que seguramente debido al topping tan agresivo y químico que lleva, se convierte en un tabaco bastante picante tanto en boca como en nariz, además de tender a sobrecalentarse, lo que hace que haya que fumarlo muy muy despacio. En definitiva un tabaco totalmente prescindible para los fumadores habituales, y totalmente desaconsejado para la gente que se inicie. No me cabe duda que Borkum Riff es uno de los causantes de que muchos iniciados acaben abandonando la pipa debido a que en sitios no especializados se suele recomendar de inicio. Novatos, huid de este tabaco;)