JAMES HETFIELD Makes Cigars Now

Metallica frontman James Hetfield has teamed up with both cigarmaker Jonathan Drew and Metallica's own Blackened American Whiskey distiller Rob Dietrich for a new line of cigars. The cigars have been dubbed the Blackened Cigars "M81" by Drew Estate and will hit shelves this September. No word on if smoking them will give you inhuman downpicking abilities like Hetfield, but we're wagering not.

"It is really a fun social thing for me, a fellowship, to have a few buddies sit around with a few sticks," said 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."

The Blackened Cigars "M81" by Drew Estate will be officially unveiled tonight on the Freestyle Live Event Pack Mania! event held on the Drew Estate Cigars channel below.

In actual music news, Metallica will play a memorial show for Megaforce Records founders Jon "Jonny Z" and Marsha Zazula at the Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL for November 6. The show will be opened by old-school Metallica tourmates Raven and will feature a setlist primarily of the band's early material. Get all the information here.