Borkum Riff Mixture with Bourbon Whiskey (Bronze)

Bites like a injured pitbull with rabies! Have not found a way to help this blend at all. Only way I will ever burn this again is in the fireplace and hope it don't offend the neighbors. Minus 4 stars! So dry out of the pouch that it almost floats. Would not feed it to a horse or a wild goat for that matter. Other than that I have nothing bad to say about this blend.

I started smoking a pipe at 19. I can recall having my first blend, half and half. It gave me wicked tounge bite, it didn't taste like it smelled and wasn't at all what I thought it was. So I was highly put off to aromatic OTCs, rarely trying any, even higher brow ones. I accidentally got into cigarette smoking after a heat wave in 2010 killed my collection of good pipes when I was 23. After the bitterness of that wore off, I went back to the pipe about 2018, in hopes of ditching the cigs. Im 36 now and decided to review some old tobaccos I have tried before or ones I scoffed at before. Bokrum Riff Whiskey is one I scoffed at, hoping to not reexperience my issue of tounge bite half and half gave me.

Bokrum Riff This stuff is the stuff of legends in the pipe community. It is up there with Mixture 79 about how bad it was. That said, I lovw this stuff. My 23 year old self is wanting to kick my butt for that statment. "We end up smoking old codger blends almost exclusively?" He would ask and I would nod and continue to smoke my Corncob of Borkum Riff, silently laughing at the scrunched up face of youthful ignorance. Now, that said, it is not the perfect tobacco, for me, that is Granger, but Bokrum Riff might be top 25 for me intodays day and age. I love me some Jack Daniels, so southern whiskey was right up my alley. When I opened the pack, it didn't smell much of how I was thinking. It smelled of prunes, figs and other fruit notes with a wee bit of grass and hay from thw Virginias. I did the 3 step load and lit. After the 4th relight, we were in business and off and away we went. The first quarter of the bowl was light and wispery smoke, typical Virginia flavoring, almost like a watered down Sam Gwaith Full Virginia Flake. Had hay, grass, citrus, leathery and buttery notes. Nothing overly to write home about, but remember this blend is predominantly Virgina. Once we got pass the first quarter, the burley shows up along with the fruit notes and sweetness of the Cavendish. Then something magical and unexpected happens, pereique(sp?) Seems to show up, adding it's beautiful peppery goodness. It isn't listed, but I know what I tasted. This blend is subtle and complex, which make it an interesting blend that keeps you going. This is not a rookie blend as I think the nuance will be wasted on the inexperienced pallet. The more season pipe smoker will be thusly rewarded for sticking with this to the end. As foe tounge bite, I didn't get any, but Virginia tobacco is known for that, regardless of blend and I smoked at a decent pace. Now, I have read that occasionally BR can make the tounge feel coated in residue and while BR original gave me a bit of that, this blend didn't. I love BR original as well, in spite of the tounge covering with my first experience. Only problem with this is the bowl is over too fast.

I say this blend is highly recommend. P.S. I find clays work best for Virginia blends, so maybe try it in one of those to keep it smoking cool and you shouldn't have any issues. 5 outta 5 stars

Beating a dead horse here it seems, that said it's an unimpressive, ashy, harsh, cigarette blend. Probably better than nothing, I guess, but there are FAR better bourbon tobys. Anything else I could say has been said by hundreds. Not recommended

I can't say i enjoy this. To me it doesn't have any flavour, the smoke doesn't have much scent to it and although it smells nice in the packet i don't enjoy smoking it.

Why this gets such poor reviews is a mystery to me. Perhaps in the past this blend went through some inconsistency but as of 2021 the 1.5oz pouch I finished was very pleasant. No bite, nice aroma, leaves little moisture, and satisfying. The burley comes through mostly with a light sweet top note, not very reminiscent of bourbon but it works for me. This would make a good first tobacco for a new pipe smoker.

I can't remember if it was Bourbon or just Whiskey when I tried this in the mid 80s. It's the sole reason, I started smoking cigarettes instead of a pipe. I remember a couple old geezers I worked with when I was 16, smoked pipes. They had to be in their 60s. I asked what I should smoke, and I was told Capt.Black, or SWR. I went straight to the dime store, and bought Broken Raft. I thought I was being naughty with the whole whiskey thing. I went straight out to my car, packed my Medico, and began puffing like a puffed cheek cartoon cloud in a Disney storm sequence. Of course I filleted my tongue with a flaming demon scythe. I felt like I had just French kissed a gaboon viper. How the heck do these old farts smoke pipes?! I do recall they both rolled their eyes, because I was a fool. This is just a memory review at the moment. I HAVE to get more of this....just to see, and bring back some memories, however bad.

EDIT: I bought another pouch at my grocery store. A little over $7 out the door. I just had to know. For the same price, I could've bought about 3000 matches, and used each one to burn my tongue like this stuff, and they'd probably taste better. This has a sharp twang that is NOT any bourbon I've ever had. Tasted like sucking on a soured cork, that was on fire. Gross like I remembered. Smelled like a chewing tobacco I've had when I chewed oddly enough, actually not bad odor in the pouch. Made me kinda want a chaw. Pouch split down the side when I opened the seal also. It was dry, I will keep the stars at 2 because some moisture MAY help it. I'll rehydrate and try again in 2087 if I'm alive.

So I picked up a pouch of this as I was in my car and out of tobacco. I thought it sounded good and that it would be a premium smoke. I was wrong. This blend was fast burning, hot and gave me terrible tongue bite. The pouch not was good but the room note was unpleasant. I will not purchase this again. That is a shame, really, because it reflects poorly on the rest of the BR line.

I smoked this on occasion some 35 years ago. I remembered liking it at that time. I received a coupon recently and thought I would give it another try. As with other OTC blends I have recently tried, I have found my tastes have matured over the years. Pouch note was of pleasant whiskey. Room note was tolerable. Moisture level was good It packed well and lit with a reasonable number of relites. I had to nurse this one to keep it from burning too hot. The taste started out pleasant, but as it got about half was through the bowl it got bitter, to the point of becoming intolerable. If you have no taste buds, this would be an ok all day smoke. Super Value Bourbon Whiskey is a far better choice at a much better price point.

Smokes easy, smokes cool (at least in my cob). Straight out of a new package, this is absolutely horrible. It smokes like a wet dog, and tastes no better..but give it time to air, let it breathe, then the smooth, sweet whiskey will come out, along with what seems like sweet hints of virginia. I can only give it 2 stars due to the horrible flavor and smell when its fresh. This was, however, my first tobacco, and has a place in my heart.