Borkum Riff Mixture with Bourbon Whiskey (Bronze)

I did not seek this one out, it simply came my pipe via a donation. Being fairly snobbish, I had zero expectation of this being a good smoke, so it was free to excite me in some manner.

The pouch gave off a sour, earthy odor that reminded me more of wine soaked cardboard rather than sipable liquor (which immediately brought back memories of their nasty Limited Edition 36 blend) - they have consistency at least. The semi-dry, thin cut ribbon, packed well enough and fired to an instant smolder. No intense flavors or bitterness arose, with the first few puffs mild and somewhat 'cigarette-y' (perhaps due to it's quality and near shag cut).

To their credit, it was not an overly topped Aromatic, and the Whiskey flavor develops somewhat throughout the course of the bowl. I dunno, it was OK, but for my money I would never buy it over similar price points (Prince Albert or Captain Black) if at the drugstore.

I always liked Borkum Riff blends, since they were produced by Swedish Match. I have picked up the latest offerings from STG - Scandinavian Tobacco Group and they are really great. I cannot understand the ranting and all bad-saying about this tobacco over here... Upon opening the nice pouch I am amazed by a block - almost if it was pressed - tobacco bar. Of course it is easily detachable into its fine cut ribbons, well executed by STG. You will get 3 or four different colors to it, beautiful blend. The topping note is sweet and mellow. It reminds me of dried fruit and if you compare it to a whisky smell, you may be able to notice some hints of it, but not overpowering. Packs and lights very easily. It however burns a bit fast, so take small sips to enjoy it for a longer time... Taste is very nice, I get the Virginias sweetness and the black cavs add a nice bouquet to my retrohale / french-hale experience. All in all, a very decent blend and extremely well revisited and executed by STG. Recommended.

I really did not like this and put it away but decided to try again before trashI gotta It was much milder, taste was;ow. I added a big splash of bourbon and let dry and it’s not all bad, in fact, I like it. It has to be given a chance.

I’m still a Boswell fan.

As I am relatively new to pipe tobbacco, having returned to it after years of not smoking at all due to work requirements, I have little by way of comparisson. So from a new pipesmokers perspective:

As I opened the pouh the first time, the scent of Bourbon was quite potent. It actually overpowered the scent of the tobbacco. Once the tobbacco had been lit, the flavour of Bourbon was present, But not as overpowering. It was quite a Nice flavour and kept that flavour through out.

My wife not being a fan of any whiskey did not enjoy the scent. She noted that it did Get to be a bit much whiskey. (She prefers the scent of vanillas etc ahead of this one. It has however grown on her and she claims it a taste she can aquire.)

Let me start out by saying that I may not be a Virginia fan. I mean, most of the virginia tobaccos that I have reviewed have gotten pretty unenthusiastic marks from me. Here we go with another less than wonderful blend. The smell out of the pouch is grassy and reminds me a lot of Sail or something close. I do n’t really smell the bourbon. The stuff packs well and it arrived at a good moisture level. The thickness of the packaging seems to have done a good job at keeping it fresh. It takes a couple of charring lights to get started and another full light to get the smoke going. The taste is of grass and a little earth. Again, the whiskey seems to be missing. In fact, this could almost pass as Borkum Riff Original if I didn’t have the pouch right in front of me. The aroma is that of a good Virginia and nothing else. By the way, the wife gives the room note a thumbs down. As the smoke continues, there is a little whiskey in the aroma, but it never shows in the taste. The burning quality is good, but you will want to keep your lighter handy if you start to talk or put the pipe down for any reason. There is no tongue bite and the taste is super mild. The ash is fine and there is no dottle left in the pipe. Although I do admit that the pipe tends to gurgle a little because I puff a little fast to get flavor or to keep it lit. Pouches are getting too expensive for such a lack-luster performance. But I can admit that others may find a lot here, but I found very little. Back to the Burley tobacco for me!

Not so terrible as described. The choice (ingredients’ selection) is ok: Virginia, Black Cavendish and Bourbon Whiskey blended together (really I don’t know if before it was better because I didn’t try the first “version” Virginia, Burley and Bourbon). I like this kind of flavoring (bourbon, rum, whiskey, cognac , brandy and so on) because I think it’s a perfect marriage. With these flavorings you can always perceive the tobacco. And indeed, in this mixture you can always savor the taste of tobacco. But it’s essential take care when you mix with others seasonings. I mean that if you are employing some spirit as a chief ingredient, consequently you have to be careful with the “casing” and with the final “top dressing”. And in this mixture you can perceive a bitter aftertaste, probably due to the wrong combination of some seasoning, incompatible with Bourbon Whiskey. For these reasons, in my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 6 and two stars.

The current version is both better and less so in some respects to the older version I smoked twenty plus years ago. The basic flavor seems consistent but lacks that extra bit of sweetness that rounded it out, likely due to ingredient restrictions these days of coarse. On the other hand, there is a real improvement over the older version that had a high amount of stems that were processed and incorporated into the black cavendish part of the blend that seriously affected the smoking experience. So, It's a smoother blend these days with a dark semi sweet character that is uniquely it's own and hard to describe. It doesn't taste or smell like whiskey. It's reminiscent of molasses, chocolate truffle and maybe a bit of dried fig. This is a dryer blend for an aromatic typical of European black cavendish along with the larger proportion of golden virginia it's blended with.

On a side note, I was reminded by this blend of the older Balkan Sobranie from the early 90's, it's base of light and dark virginias which I understand was cased and stoved-cavendish to make up the dark component. It is surprising how well this newer Borkum Riff works as a base for an English mixture; Just add turkish and latakia. It's not Balkan Sobranie but nevertheless it really works.

I've tried this tobacco recently and I like it. There is not too much of a bite, it has a good taste and mild whisky flavoring. It's not the best of Borkum Riff, but it is a good blend.

Living in a place that has limited available opportunities to buy pipe tobacco at a decent price. My go to tobacco was sold out and this was sitting there. I bought a pouch. I opened it and it was as dry as dehydrated water. There was no pouch note. No taste it burnt hot and bit like a rabid dog. Tossed the pouch. I am not going to rate this low nor high. I might amend my review at a later date.