Borkum Riff Mixture with Bourbon Whiskey (Bronze)

Well, just checking out the local variety which amounts to about 8 to 10. We have no tobacconist in our area, so you have to know what's available local for when you run out of good stuff. This is one of the best I've had from a supermarket/variety. There is some whiskey taste at the start, but that burns off within 10 minutes, but closer to the bottom reveals a good blend of tobaccos. Mild but tasty, and burns clean at the bottom. Not as good as those I can order online, but good to remember.

Having read the various reviews on varieties of this classic drugstore brand, it was with some trepidation that I even removed it from the shelf at the store. I was expecting to get tongue bite just from handling the pouch. Bourbon sounded good, and I was encouraged by the fact that the package proclaimed "Made in Denmark". The instant rebate didn't hurt either. I plunked down the rather modest price and figured it was worth a chance.

On opening the pouch, I was surprised to find that the tobacco smelled for the most part like tobacco, rather than bourbon. Neither was the tobacco overly wet, as were most bourbon flavored aromatics that I have tried. The moisture level was just about what I consider perfect. The cut is longer than I generally like these days, but tolerable.

I proceeded to load up the knockabout pipe that happened to be with me. Packing was a little clumsy due to the length of the strands, but easy enough. After the charring lights, I settled down to a surprisingly pleasant smoke.

This is not a complex or pretentious tobacco. The bourbon flavoring is very sparing indeed, and you have to look for the flavor. Mostly there is just mild tobacco taste. It is consistent from the top of the bowl to the bottom. I experienced none of the fabled tongue bite associated with Borkum Riff varieties. When I got to the bottom of the bowl, there was nothing but grey and black ash, no goop or moisture at all.

The room note is so soft that it's hardly worth mentioning. Even in the confines of my vehicle, a small crack in the vent window was enough to completely remove the smell of smoke. A few minutes after I finished the bowl you'd never have known that I had one.

Since that first bowl I've had several more, and the smoking has been consistent, regardless of the pipe in use. The aftertaste is even nice. I'm pretty sure there is humectant there somewhere, as there is in most drugstore pouches, but it didn't come forward to spoil the smoking.

This is pretty darn good performance for a drug store pouch, IMHO. It's not something I'd buy a big tin of and smoke all the time, although I think you could if you wanted to. Certainly it will be on my list for those times when I just need a simple, pleasant smoke that doesn't require too much of my attention. The very soft room note and lack of persistence makes it great in the car.

Overall, recommended... remembering that this is a drugstore tobacco that's available almost everywhere, not a carefully hand blended mixture. A complete surprise, but a pleasant one.

Burley and virginia fine cut. The whisky flavoring isn't that good. It doesn't do the tobacco much justice. This blend was good when you could of purchased the cognac flavor or rum flavor. I don't care much for the cherry or whisky. If they brought back the other flavors I think some of the reveiws on this would be more positive. Especially the cognac. There's alot of good tobaccos that were discontinued and alot of lousy tobaccos still sold. Go figure! Thats the case here.

I don't think this tobacco is that bad, it's not great, but not bad either. The contents of my pouch were quite dry, none of the stickiness reported by other reviewers. It left no residue on my fingers as I packed my pipe. It has a slightly sweet taste for the first half of the bowl but I found it does have a tendency to burn hot by the end. I found the aroma and taste pleasant but unremarkable. If you can afford better, by all means do so, but if you are on a budget and can't get to your tobacconist, it will do in a pinch.

This was my first pipe tobacco, possibly because it was cheap and available, for this reason, perhaps in my somewhat biased objectivity I must say that it is a good tobacco, taking into account its low cost and the quality found, it is not very deep or soft but totally enjoyable, a very good aroma when cold and its smoke leaves a pleasant aroma in the room.

Has anyone ever used a mixture of Borkum Riff Whiskey and Old Drum by Grant's, a Tabacco store in San Francisco,Calif. ??

I smoked this blend 30 years ago and it was outstanding. My wife and anyone around me really enjoyed it. It had a light chocolate smell. I am starting the pipe again and wanted to see if anyone out there has heard or used on this mixture.

I know BR products usually get ripped on reviews, even though most pipers enjoy some drugstore brands whether they admit it or not. My tobacconist carries a few blends and I picked one of the Bourbon Whiskey just on a whim. I was pleasantly surprised. I packed it tightly and it was low maintenance from there. Stayed lit for the whole bowl. I enjoyed the cool, easy smoke, no bite. The Bourbon flavor is evident, perhaps just north of a suggestion of flavor. For $4 or so, grab some. Wife liked the Room Note. My pouch was right on with moisture and did not leave my briar goopy at all.

BR Bourbon with coffee in the morning is a great day starter.It does not bite, it is not goopy and it does have great Bourbon flavor if you just slow down. I will be happy with a tin of BRB and one of CBW to cover my daily "drugstore" blends.

This one is a very expensive tobacco here in Greece (it costs 13 euros per pouch), so I usually order it from abroad. I have found it a very good choice thanks to its pleasant room note and its tender feeling (with a little bit burning) in mouth and nose. Maybe not the best one (because you sometimes find yourself being bored) but a nice one to put your trust in, when you do not have in the cupboard your perfect ones...