David P. Ehrlich Company DPE

As the previous reviewer said, Ehrlichs was an absolutely fascinating place back when I started going to it in the early 70's. It was like going back in time: the mahogany counters; sales people in blue or red smocks smoking their pipes; "the man in the window" making or repairing pipes and an absolutely fantastic selection of pipes and tobaccos. They, and the other store owned by them, Leavitt and Pierce in Harvard Square in Cambridge have a rich history as tobacconists and were/are an institution in the Boston area. Sadly, as has been noted, Ehrlichs has deemphasized its line of pipes and tobaccos, presumably due to the declining number of pipe smokers and has gotten into other lines such as cigars (which they always had but have increased the emphasis thereon), exotic beers and wines and other products. My absolute favorite tobacco of all time was a Danish blend called Pemberton, which I understand was made for them by MacBarens, and was nearly identical to the old Golden Extra when it was a combination of Burley and Virgina, but that too was discontinued some years ago. But Ehrlichs has not closed. They have moved from 32 Tremont St. in Boston to 40 North St. near Faneuil Hall and are a much smaller operation. Leavitt and Pierce still remains in Harvard Square. I was in there today and they told me that the pipe business has picked up somewhat. Hope it continues.

Ehrlichs and L&P's flagship blend is DPE and is still available unchanged from when I first tried it in 1970. I will never forget their slogan about it: "Our highest selling blend. We sell tons and tons of it each year." I have heard its been around since the 1880's. I don't know about that but do know that they have sold it since at least the 1940's, probably earlier. DPE is a blend of seven different Virginia, Burley and Latakia tobaccos, aged 3 years and cut into small to medium sized cubes. It is easy packing and lighting. It has a very nutty primary flavor with a sweet undertone. The Latakia is almost unnoticeable. It is rather mild, tongue bite is almost nonexistent, yet it delivers a strong flavor relative to its overall mildness. It is to me an excellent all day smoke. When I first tried it I was somewhat frustrated as the first few puffs were extremely flavorful but this appeared to become lost after a few minutes. I figured out that the secret was not to overlight, and to smoke very slow and not draw too heavily. When I do this, the flavor remains consistent. The other plus on this tobacco is that it is less expensive than many other premium blends. Not cheap, but less expensive. It is an outstanding value in my humble opinion.

Update 4/17/13: I am now smoking my first bowl of DPE since it changed. It does somewhat resemble the original. Lost is the primary nutty flavor I described above; the primary flavor now seems to be a tangy, almost citrus like flavor. There does not appear to be as much latakia in the mixture and the whole mixture is much lighter in color than the original. Maybe just a tad more latakia would help. Overall not bad but not as good as the original. Wish they could bring that back.