METALLICA Frontman JAMES HETFIELD Joins Forces With Drew Estate For New Cigar Brand, Blackened Cigars “M81”

Cigar Aficionado is reporting that Metallica guitarist and vocalist, James Hetfield, has partnered with cigarmaker Jonathan Drew and Blackened distiller Rob Dietrich on a new cigar brand called Blackened Cigars “M81” by Drew Estate.

The all-maduro, handmade cigars will come in four sizes, and they will begin shipping to retailers in December. The cigars are scheduled to be handed out on both nights at Cigar Aficionado’s Big Smoke Las Vegas, November 11 and 12.

The project was fittingly born over cigars. Hetfield is friends with Dietrich, who makes Blackened American Whiskey.

“It is really a fun social thing for me, a fellowship, to have a few buddies sit around with a few sticks,” says Hetfield. “My buddy, Rob Dietrich, Blackened’s master distiller, and I frequently enjoy cigars together and he introduced me to Jonathan from Drew Estate. The three of us connected and shared each other’s vision and story about where we’ve been, what we like to see and what is important to us now, and we all came up with what a Blackened ‘M81’ cigar would look and taste like. I love the maduro leaf and I’m super excited for everyone to try this.”

Dietrich and Drew have been friends for more than 10 years, and Drew sent samples to the two men, who kept journals as they smoked to note what they liked and didn’t like as the blend evolved. Dietrich calls it “a project that was purely born from passion.” The process took about two years of sampling and smoking, ending up with a brand made entirely from maduro leaves.

Read more at Cigar Aficionado.