David P. Ehrlich is the second brand launched by Mike Bellody’s MLB Cigar Ventures. The slogan for MLB Cigar Ventures is “Developed by Legends, Smoked by Connoisseurs” and that has been the philosophy adopted by Bellody as he has built his brands. For his Imperia brand, Bellody worked with Manuel “Manolo” Quesada to come up with Imperia, Imperia Islero, and Imperia Aventador. For David P. Ehrlich, Bellody turned to another industry legend – Ernesto Perez Carrillo. Last year, the company launched the first cigar line under the David P. Ehrlich brand – the Tremont. Another goal of Bellody’s is to work with these legends and get them to move a little out of their comfort zone. Recently I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the David P. Ehrlich Tremont in the Toro size.  With the Tremont, it appears that Bellody has once again struck gold. Not only does he succeed at delivering an excellent cigar to market, but he brings a cigar that is very different cigar than what we have seen from Perez-Carrillo before.

The David P. Ehrlich brand is described as a partnership by Mike Bellody and MLB Cigar Ventures’ National Sales Manager, Barry MacDonald.  David P. Ehrlich was the name of a historic tobacconist whose eponymous shop was located in the city of Boston. The store traced its history back to 1868. For Bellody, it happened to be the place where he purchased his first cigars over two decades ago. It also turns out that MacDonald’s family owned Ehrlich’s for almost 40 years. While the store is no longer in operation, MacDonald was able to work with Bellody to bring back the brand – this time to be used for a line of premium cigars. The first line, the David P. Ehrlich Tremont, also has ties to the store – it is the name of the street in Boston where the Ehrlich tobacco shop was located.

Now let’s take a closer look at the David P. Ehrlich Tremont Toro and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

The David P. Ehrlich Tremont uses an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. This wrapper, as well as the Connecticut Broadleaf, can be considered two staple wrappers that Perez-Carrillo has used over the years. The remainder of the blend is a mix of tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. The Tremont is produced at Perez-Carrillo’s Tabacalera La Alianza factory in the Dominican Republic.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan & Dominican
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic (Tabacalera La Alianza)

Vitolas Available

David P. Ehrlich is available in five sizes. Each are packaged in 20 count boxes.

Robusto: 5 x 52
Corona; 5 1/2 x 44
Toro: 6 x 50
Gordo: 6 x 60
Churchill: 7 x 47

Appearance

The Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper of the David P. Ehrlich Tremont Toro had a dark cinnamon color to it. Upon closer examination, there is some very subtle mottling on the wrapper. There was a very light sheen of oil on the wrapper. The wrapper has some visible veins and minimal visible wrapper seams.

The David P. Ehrlich Tremont band has a mostly pale yellow background along with a red, gold, and black color scheme. The band implements a variation of the original David P. Ehrlich logo. It features a gentleman in a red smoking jacket and black top hat smoking a cigar over an oval background. The text “DAVID P. EHRLICH” is in black font arranged in a curved fashion. The text “18” and “68” surround the gentleman in a black font. The text “TREMONT” is on the lower portion of the oval in gold font. On both the left and right is a red stripe protruding from the oval. There is a gold medallion resting on the oval. Above and below the stripe are some additional gold adornments sitting on a pale yellow background. The lower portion of the band contains a series of red pinstripes. Finally, the oval and the edges of the band have a black colored trim to it.

The David P. Ehrlich logo is based on the original logo from the tobacconist. That original logo had the gentleman smoking a pipe. The pipe was redrawn as a cigar.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

I chose my usual straight cut to commence the smoking experience of the David P. Ehrlich Tremont Toro. Once the cap was removed, I moved on to the pre-light draw phase. The cold draw delivered notes of earth, natural tobacco, and touches of black pepper. Overall I considered the pre-light draw of this cigar to be satisfactory. At this point, I was ready to light up the David P. Ehrlich Tremont Toro and see what the smoking stage would reveal.

Flavor Profile

The David P. Ehlrich Tremont Toro started out with motes of earth, natural tobacco, black pepper, and cedar. As the cigar moved through the early stages, the earth notes moved into the forefront. The cedar, pepper, and natural tobacco became secondary. At times the cedar and natural tobacco surfaced in the forefront as a primary note. The cedar notes were also present on the after-draw. Meanwhile the retro-hale delivered a healthy dose of additional black pepper and cedar notes.

As the Tremont Toro moved into the second third, a mineral note emerged in the forefront with the earth notes. While a combination of earth and mineral may not be the most exciting, the background notes of cedar, pepper, and natural tobacco provided a nice balance to those flavors. Just past the midway point, both the cedar and pepper increased in intensity with the pepper increasing at a faster rate.

The last third of the David P. Ehlrich Tremont Toro saw the pepper notes moved into the forefront and pretty much fused with the mineral notes. The cedar notes were close secondary notes. There was quite a bit going on in the spicy/peppery department of this cigar. Meanwhile, the earth notes receded into the background joining the natural tobacco notes. As the Tremont Toro came to a close, the resulting nub was slightly soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

Overall I found the burn of the David P. Ehlrich Tremont Toro to score very well when it came to both burn and draw. The cigar had no trouble maintaining a straight burn path from start to finish. On the actual burn line, there was some jaggedness from time to time. This was remedied easily with some touch-ups and I did not find this cigar was in need of excessive touch-ups. The resulting ash was mostly light gray in color. This wasn’t a tight ash, nor was it a loose, flaky one either. The burn rate and burn temperature of the Tremont Toro were ideal.

In terms of draw, I found the draw to not be too loose, nor too tight. This was a low maintenance cigar to derive flavor from. The Tremont Toro is also a cigar that produces quite a bit of smoke.

Strength and Body

MLB Cigar Ventures positions the David P. Ehrlich line as a cigar that is medium to full in strength and medium to full in body. That is exactly the range I found the Tremont Toro to fall into. As the cigar experience progresses, there is a slight increase in intensity of both the strength and body, but in the end, I still found this to be a medium to full strength and body cigar.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to the David P. Ehrlich line, there is a lot to like about both this project and this cigar. First up, I love how Bellody and MacDonald were able to resurrect the David P. Ehrlich brand. Secondly, the cigar is excellent. It is a like an old-school smoke with some additional strength, body, and spice. Finally, I believe Bellody succeeds in getting Perez-Carrillo to deliver something out of his comfort zone. From an intangibles standpoint, this Tremont Toro is like no other Ecuadorian Sumatra cigar I have had from Perez-Carrillo. As for sizes, while I have also enjoyed the Tremont Churchill, I prefer the Tremont Toro. This is a cigar I probably would recommend to a more seasoned cigar enthusiast. As for myself, I consider it worthy of a box purchase.

Summary

Key Flavors: Earth, Mineral, Cedar, Black Pepper, Natural Tobacco
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium to High
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Good

Rating

Assessment: 4.0-Box Worthy
Score: 92

References

News: MLB Cigar Ventures to Launch David P. Ehrlich Tremont at 2016 IPCPR
Price: ~$9.50
Source: Purchased
Brand Reference: MLB Cigar Ventures

* MLB Cigar Ventures is a sponsor of Cigar Coop