Does ANYBODY actually like Borkum Riff?

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juvat270

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 1, 2011
557
1
I was at a local B&M earlier today when a guy walked in and began chatting with the owner. He mentioned he was new to pipe smoking and was looking for a tobacco that he says was recommended to him by a co-worker. That tobacco was Borkum Riff. He didn't say which BK blend, just Borkum Riff. The owner couldn't help him as he doesn't carry any of BK's products.
The guy thanked him and left. As soon as he walked out the door, the owner looked at me and another customer and said, "His co-worker must really hate him!" The other customer replied "What was he looking for? Borkum Riff? I pray he never finds it!"
We all chuckled and that was that.
Which leads me to the thread title. Is there anyone out there that actually does like it?
I'm torn myself. I've tried BK Whiskey and while I didnt think it was "terrible" it had an "off" somewhat perfume taste that I just didn't care for. Ok, now that I'm thinking about it again, it was pretty bad. On the flip side, I do like their Black Cavendish.
EDIT: I should add that, obviously somebody likes it as they wouldn't still be in business otherwise. But who and where are these people at? I have yet to find any pipe smoker that has anything nice to say about their blends. (Well, except for me with my comment about their Black Cavendish :P )

 

pstlpkr

Lifer
Dec 14, 2009
9,694
31
Birmingham, AL
My Dad smoked it for years. It's what I would classify as a "Codger Blend".

Just to remind myself I occasionally buy a pouch of Whiskey.

That satisfies my "Jones".

But, I do enjoy it on a rare occasion.

I like the room note... at least it's one that has a familial ring to me.

 

colorduke

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 5, 2011
775
1
I've had a pouch for 6 years and it isn't getting any better with age,so NO i don't like it.

 

rigmedic1

Lifer
May 29, 2011
3,896
76
It was one of the early dabble with blends I smoked when I was starting out. I used to equate smoking that stuff to the lousy beer my dad drank, as being something men do because they are men, and I would get used to it. I liked my pipe that much that I was willing to suffer for it. Thank goodness someone introduced me to a tobacco house.

 

chopz

Can't Leave
Oct 14, 2011
352
0
borkum riff whiskey is like kissing a girl wearing way too much makeup. i don't have a problem with it but have no desire to have a steady diet of it. but still...

 

jchaplick

Lifer
May 8, 2011
1,702
10
First blend i ever smoked was BR cherry, it was pretty bad and did not taste like cherry

 

juni

Lifer
Mar 9, 2010
1,184
15
I also did buy a pouch of "whiskey" when I started out. I never finished it.

 

terry

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 7, 2011
778
1
I tried a couple of bowls when I first started smoking a pipe...just didn't care for it.

 

tobakenist

Lifer
Jun 16, 2011
1,837
1,776
69
Middle England
Well, someone must like it or they wouldn't make it, the same can be said of a lot of over the counter tobacco's, they must sell or they wouldn't produce it, it's a fickle world. :roll:

 

yuri66

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 17, 2010
287
0
I used to smoke Borkum Riff back in my military time while deployed, because it seemed that the PX connexes only carried the Riff, I did like the Balck Cavendish but was never fond of any of their other blends. I have not smoked it in years, I have not seen it in stores much either.

 

aristokles

Can't Leave
Jan 18, 2011
399
1
Borkum Riff...now there's an "old" blend that's really not so old. Well I remember the first time I bought a pouch (very early 1970s) at a drugstore in my college town. I'd run out of My Mixture 965 and was weeks away from a trip home and a resupply of my Dunnie from Tobak, Ltd. in Va Beach. I had been a 965 smoker for about three years at the time having worked my way through most of the codger burleys early on until I discovered Dunhill's English blends.

BR was no codger in those days; it was something new for us colonials - perhaps the first continental style blend we'd ever seen. Unlike the codgers which were basic Burley and flavoring, BR was a true blend cased with bourbon. It wasn't bad tasting, did not ghost a pipe (back then), the PG was lower than now (the source IMO of the perfumey aftertaste today), and cheap.

Back then when I could not get my 965 I also made do with Sail Green and the comments I make for BR apply to it as well. Both Sail and BR were marketed along with the codgers - back then a lot more pouched PT was sold in a lot more venues.

Today, neither Sail Green nor BR taste exactly as they did forty years ago. So, to answer YES I actually enjoyed BR Whiskey at one time, just not now.

 

loborx

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 20, 2011
503
25
There are certainly better blends out there but BR Whiskey, if smoked slowly, is kind of a fun smoke for me. It evokes memories of me sneaking Dad's Playboy magazine and remembering all the old ads (and other things :P). Stuff like Flying Dutchman and Borkum Riff Whiskey. Full page ads of a sea captain at the wheel or some 70's swinger attracting women with his pipeful of BR. BR is a throwback to that time, so I keep a pouch in the tacklebox and enjoy it for what it is. Just remember, smoke it slower than your normal slow smoke to avoid the notorious tongue bite.

 
Jun 26, 2011
2,011
2
Pacific Northwest USA
sorry to hear all the negative comments here. my taste must not be as refind as some others here. all i know is i still like br whiskey. i still like alot of the old tobacs. to each his own i guess

mlyvers

It's not a matter of "refined" tastes at all. I dearly love SG 1792 and G&H Dark Flake Scented.

I'm pretty sure if polled the negative comments would surpass the positive on those 2!
Smoke what you like and like what you smoke, the only "rule" that holds true.

 

gecko13

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 2, 2011
898
1
Goodyear,AZ
I don't care for BR, tried it in the 80's and that was enough.
I am a little troubled by what happened as I think the BM really missed an opportunity here. Here is a new pipe smoker, and he likely has friends that are also pipe smokers. My course of action would have been to chat with him a bit, let him sniff a few jars, and see that he left with a few samples and a welcome to return with questions and pipe talk. A few bowls of samples here and there and some friendly chat could easily lead to one or more lifetime customers. Just my 2 cents.
:puffpipe:

 

juvat270

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 1, 2011
557
1
I am a little troubled by what happened as I think the BM really missed an opportunity here. Here is a new pipe smoker, and he likely has friends that are also pipe smokers. My course of action would have been to chat with him a bit, let him sniff a few jars, and see that he left with a few samples and a welcome to return with questions and pipe talk. A few bowls of samples here and there and some friendly chat could easily lead to one or more lifetime customers. Just my 2 cents.
He did offer to help the guy with selecting a tin or show him the house blends, but he just wanted that Borkum Riff. I left that part out for sake of brevity as it really wasn't germane to my point. :)
But yes, he did offer to point him in the "right" direction, the customer just wasn't interested. :P

 

gecko13

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 2, 2011
898
1
Goodyear,AZ
@juvat270, Well I guess you can lead a new pipe smoker to the good baccy, but you can't make him smoke it. :roll:

 
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