45 years ago when I began my pipe smoking journey I smoked only Borkum Riff Bourbon. At that time it was a wonderful tobacco that I could smoke all day and it had a wonderful room note. Over the years the formulation changed and it became a vile tobacco that guaranteed tongue bite. I eventually found that I enjoyed aged VaPer tobaccos much more and 2015 became my primary smoke. Yesterday I wandered into a store that advertised itself as a tobacco store (it was more of a vape/head shop) and I saw that they had pouches of Borkum Riff for sale. I heard that Lane Tobacco (who has taken over the Borkum Riff label) has tried to bring back a tobacco that was closer to the original. I picked up a pouch of the "new" Borkum Riff Bourbon just for old times sake and I am happily surprised. The pouch aroma is quite close to what it was 45 years ago. The tobacco was not goopy although it seems to be cut finer than I can remember it to be(maybe my memory is failing me). I loaded up a cob and was very happy to see that the tobacco does not give instant tongue burn. The flavor is very close to what I remember, and the room note seems to be very close to what it once was. The only real down side that I can see to this "new" Borkum Riff is the price. $10 for one and a half ounces is pretty much a deal breaker for me, but I can see picking up a pouch of this tobacco to help me relive the flavors of my early days of pipe smoking.
Revisiting Borkum Riff Bourbon
- Thread starter stephenw
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Hey Stephenw, I to smoked BR Whiskey for many years. I have been smoking a pipe for 43 years, yes I do agree the new formula is very close too the original BR Whiskey. I like it, I to also enjoy VaPers very much sir. I just purchased 7.5 oz tub of BR Whiskey for 28 dollars. I also mixed it with a tin of Petersons Irish Oak. I will say this about BR Whiskey, it takes a pretty big negative hit here on this forum. I find it amusing what folks here have too say about it. I think to really enjoy this tobac is to sip it. I wish Lane would offer the larger tub at 14oz size like many years ago with the old packaging. Thanks for the post sir.
It has a really great flavor, but I found it can quickly bite, and thus needs to be smoked super slow. It doesn't deserve all of the negative reviews it tends to get.
P
pipebuddy
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I bought a few pouches a couple of years back. STG has definitively increased the quality of this brand. However, the casing was too strong for my liking and it gave me a headache every time I smoked it.
I seem to do much better with Scandinavian Mixture.
I seem to do much better with Scandinavian Mixture.
A couple of weeks ago, I started a thread about my good results with "heat treating" BR Bourbon. The only reason I bothered was because I really like the flavor of the stuff, but had no patience for the bite. The reason for BR taking a big negative hit here may be because of exposure to the lesser formulation, not the "old" version or the newer Lane version. Or it may be that a lot of smokers are reaching the point I am: rapidly dwindling patience with tobaccos that may have redeeming features, but require a complex ballet of special pre-treatment and handling with kid gloves to get a decent smoke out of. I have been gravitating much less toward high-maintenance, pain-in-the-ass thoroughbreds and more toward simpler, easier to enjoy, low hassle smokes. Just $0.02.
You are a brave man. The New BR is shit, the older BR was awesome (please forgive my french). If you can get your hands on a decade or two old pouches, it will be really good.
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