Borkum Riff Bourbon Whiskey

buck67 · Aug 20, 2010

My wife just walked through the door with a pouch of Borkum Riff Bourbon Whiskey. I've never tried it and was wondering what everyone thought about this selection. I will try later when the sun goes down and the temperature drops another degree or two.

Thanks in advance for your input.

papipeguy · Aug 20, 2010

Two words; its crap. Cudos to your wife for thinking about your hobby but there are about a million blends that are way more satisfying for the smoker and the residual room note for the loved ones.

igloo · Aug 20, 2010

She was thinking of you and gave you a gift pretend to like it . lol

unclearthur · Aug 20, 2010

I dislike it myself but give the fine lady lots of credit .

pstlpkr · Aug 20, 2010

It'll do in a pinch. My dad used to smoke it regularly, back in the day of percolators. I have purchased it from time to time, but it's not my favorite. If you are looking for a good Whiskey flavor you might try using Ezra Brooks as a pipe sweetener from time to time.

However, my wife likes the room note, and it will burn hot, and dries out too quickly.
Igloo had some good advice:

She was thinking of you and gave you a gift pretend to like it.

surfmac211 · Aug 21, 2010

@papipeguy

Two words; its crap. Cudos to your wife for thinking about your hobby but there are about a million blends that are way more satisfying for the smoker and the residual room note for the loved ones.

LOL sheesh hes not holding anything back LOL. You must have had a REAL bad experience lol.

I didn't care for it, but its better your wife is looking for alternative sources than giving you the cold shoulder every time you smoke lol.

mlaug · Aug 21, 2010

Who knows?...this may be your new found "best smoke ever".
One never knows what will appeal to one smoker and not another. Tastes are highly individual things. Even if the taste isn't all that good, it might have some kind of memory for her/you like pstlpkr pointed out.
Besides, its never a good idea to turn away gift tobbacco. Karma and all that.

bubbadreier · Aug 21, 2010

Like others have said, try it before you make a decision. You never know if this will be something you end up loving.
I for one plan on buying a pouch to try it out one day soon!

dd951 · Aug 21, 2010

No matter what you think of it, I agree with igloo

igloo · Aug 21, 2010

Well did you like it ?

strongirish · Aug 21, 2010

This blend has been around forever, it has a wonderful room note, and a good taste, it just smokes quite hot and wet giving tongue bite. I admit though, its been over 30 years since I have had any. For a long time it was the number one imported pipe tobacco in the US. Try it, you might like it.

buck67 · Aug 21, 2010

Thanks guys for the input. My wife and I went fishing this morning and I lit a bowl of the Borkum Riff Bourbon Whiskey. I will admit that it will probably never be my favorite but it probably also wont be the worst tobacco that I smoke. I did bite my tongue quite a bit and I had some gurgling in the stem. However, I was very appreciative of my wife's gift and will be looking forward to the next surprise tobacco offering. My wife is the greatest!!

juni · Aug 22, 2010

Tried it, didn't like it. "crap" is a bit strong of a description though. :D

mlaug · Aug 22, 2010

There is usually a reason these old OTC blends have lasted as long as they have. It doesn't hurt to try 'em all.

bubbadreier · Aug 22, 2010

I bought some PA rather than the Borkum Riff... I was pleasantly surprised by the PA so I hope I get the same surprise from the Borkum Riff!

papipeguy · Aug 22, 2010

Yeah, you guys are right; "crap" may too strong a term for Borkum Whiskey. Remember Borkum Plum, now that one was really bad. If memory serves me (and it rarely does) plums are the precursor to prunes.

It seemed that when Borkum Whiskey took off they tried every flavor under the sun as follow-ups.

So, my apologies to all. After reflection there were many more candidates that were worse. Anyone remember Sklarna? That one was a real briar burner.

contentmentcure · Aug 22, 2010

Buck67: I have always like all Borkum Riff blends; they require an extremely light draw and work fine for those of us who do not require the pipe to be in constant "burn" mode.

It sounds like you have a very thoughtful wife; (a rarity in these times of unbridled selfishness), I have been so blessed myself.

juni · Aug 23, 2010

My wife usually leaves the tobacco buying to me but she does get me a pipe every now and then (although I show her what kind I like). Apparently since I took up pipe smoking getting gifts for me has become a lot easier.
I am glad your wife approves of the hobby too.

Speaking of OTC: Has anyone ever tried this:
http://tabak-kuester.de/zigarren-shop/product_info.php?info=p90278_Barsdorf-s-Kaept-n-Bester-Vanilla.html
(I noticed it in a department store but I have never heard of i)

yannis · Aug 23, 2010

I don't like Borkum Riff but the fact is that you are very lucky guys !!!!
I have never got anything about pipe smoking from my wife

juozapas · Aug 23, 2010

Borkum Riff Bourbon Whiskey..was the first pouch I ever purchased, and I enjoyed it very much. I'm not exactly sure what people don't like about it ?? It was fine...but I was looking forward to purchasing the Cherry version, which I did a week or so later, and it was pretty good.

Thank you for the reviews, it makes for great reading and helps with the decision making when buying pipe tobacco. It just shows that one shoe doesn't fit all..and that's what I love about this hobby.

Thank you.

Joe N.

Barrie,Ontario,CANADA

Borkum Riff Bourbon Whiskey

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