Holger Danske Black & Bourbon

Borkum Riff used to be a very good mixture back 40 years ago but its quality slipped a bit each time the company changed ownership. I was looking for a mixture that tasted similar to the old Borkum Riff when I tried B&B and I was disappointed. It has an odd chemical taste rather than a bourbon flavor. It's not a bad mixture but, in my opinion, not worth getting another tin of it.

Very cheap, yet highly palatable blend, from Holger Dankse.

It's very black indeed with a few brown bits here and there. The pouch aroma is quite strong, possibly overpowering and my first thought was that this is a nasty chemically enhanced mixture of god-knows-what.

It seems this thought was unjustified and the smoke does not follow on from the opening scent. Yes, it tastes a bit on the trashy side and needs quite a few relights, but it's actually quite mild and prolonged use does not seem to sicken the palate, like say, the Cellini blends.

It's a typical Danish concoction, coming through with (at first) flowery flourish, which later settles down to a rather pleasant sweet strawberry chocolate flavour with an alcoholic smattering in the background.

You don't relight from cold, and the tobacco comes very very dry, and as a result smokes down quite quickly. Decanting into a jar with a pueblos stone is recommended.

Not a bad blend if stuck without an aro fix and certainly not down there with throwaway blends like Meine Mixture. Worth a try and at under 6 euros (the Germans have actually DECREASED the price of their tobaccos, due to a change in VAT rate) very good value.

I received a sample of B&B from my recent TinSociety box. It is not something I would have picked for myself due to some previous bad experiences with "bourbon" flavored tobacco.

In the bag, it seemed to have a good moisture level. I found a couple of stems in my sample which I had not experienced in a long time. Its a mix of brown and black tobaccos. The smell was unremarkable but I thought I could smell some bourbon. Ribbon cut is easy to light and keep lit.

I found it to be a decent aromatic. Much better than my other bourbon experiences, but it is also less intense. The flavoring seems chemically more than true alcohol or maybe there is some PG in there?

I got a little "nutty" taste from the tobacco which makes me wonder if a little burley might be hiding in there.

Not something that will make the rotation, but not a horrible smoke either.

Very easy to smoke, fast burning tabacco and never hot. Really light taste, excellent for beginner smokers. But boaring taste after a couple of days.

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A pleasant tobacco but with a bizarre behavior: all we know that every tobacco needs the right pipe to pull out the best, but in this case (IMHO) the differences between pipe to pipe are exaggerated. Generally talking, for B&B seems better a medium-large bowl. It also seems to suffer much of climate: dry climate emphasizes the aromas, the humid climate flattens them, at least that was my experience ..... It is normal that the weather might affect the pleasantness of smoke, but from a flavoured Black Cavendish I expected better consistency.

A quite mild aromatic. Its mildness is double edged in that it both makes a rather cool, all-day smoke but also a rather impersonal mixture with nothing special to crave for.

Not annoyingly sweet, the tobacco itself hasnt got a very pronounced character and the casing alludes to a pleasant creamy roundness. Could be combined with a harsher-tangy virginia to provide with softness and a slight aroma.

I tried this tobacco on a trip to Lanzarote, one of the Canarian Islands. The problem with this tobacco is...where is the tobacco-taste? Like menthol-ciggarettes, only in the case of this, the menthol is replaced with Jack Daniels or some other American Bourbon, but I suspect the flavoring to be chemical. This tobacco is not biting at all, it is very gentle to all parts of the mouth, but all these parts probably will notice the smoke coming in but will be wondering when the taste of tobacco finally is coming!

I usually like the whiskey/bourbon type of tobacco, but i found this a little on the bland side for my liking.

The cavendish hints under a somewhat heavy casing. Though better than most, it is still chemical rich and tongue-bite prone. Still not a bad choice for near-non-smoking parties - when left open for a few days it gets better.