Drew Estate Blackened M81 Maduro to the Core

With the Drew Estate Blackened series, two worlds come together that share passion, character, and intensity: hand-rolled premium cigars and the music of Metallica. The line was born from a collaboration between James Hetfield, frontman of the metal band Metallica founded in 1981, Master Distiller Rob Dietrich, and Jonathan Drew, founder of Drew Estate. The name “Blackened” not only refers to the Metallica song of the same name from 1988, but also to the powerful, dark character of the blend. The series is aimed at aficionados looking for expressive cigars from Nicaragua and who enjoy pairing them with Bourbon or Whiskey. The project was launched in September 2022 after around two years of work on the blend. During that time, James Hetfield and Rob Dietrich, Master Distiller of Blackened Whiskey, enjoyed cigars together, documenting their ratings and thoughts and continuously “finalizing” the blend.

Drew Estate Blackened Cigars with Metallica DNA

Since the early 1980s, Metallica has been one of the most influential bands in heavy metal, achieving their greatest international success around the legendary “Black Album” of 1991 with tracks such as “Enter Sandman” and “Nothing Else Matters.” The connection to the Blackened series is therefore intentional: dark appearance, distinctive tobaccos, and a powerful flavor profile reflect the energy for which James Hetfield and his band became known worldwide. Drew Estate embraces this concept by combining American Broadleaf tobaccos with selected filler tobaccos from Nicaragua to create modern longfiller cigars with a distinctive profile. The wrapper is a Mexican San Andrés, the binder an American Connecticut River Valley Broadleaf, and the filler blend consists of Nicaraguan and U.S. Pennsylvania Green River One Sucker tobaccos, representing some of the boldest leaves Connecticut has to offer.

Blackened M81 – Germany Premiere with Metallica

The Drew Estate Blackened M81 represents the darker side of the series and pays tribute to the band’s founding year, 1981. The Blackened M81 Robusto, my “test cigar,” delivered an exceptionally dark Maduro profile with notes of espresso, dark chocolate, earth, and “crisp” wood. Bold pepper notes accompanied the smoke, while leather, cocoa, and occasionally a subtle dark sweetness emerged in the background. Overall, the cigar was full-bodied and spicy without becoming one-dimensional. Our team from Cigarworld in Düsseldorf had the opportunity to attend the Germany premiere on May 23, 2026, in Frankfurt. The Metallica concert taking place at the same time provided the perfect setting—unfortunately, the “rockers” didn’t make it to our event location on their night off between gigs. Even so, it was a successful evening with good cigars, plenty of metal music, and delicious food. The enjoyable conversations with fellow retailers in attendance (thanks to Salih Dalay for the Drew Estate Liga Privada A and the caps!) more than made up for the drive back – yes, I had to drive while my colleagues didn’t. The noise level was definitely a challenge! :-)

Blackened M81 and S84 – Two Characters, One Shared Idea

In addition to the “dark” Drew Estate Blackened cigars presented here, there are also the milder Drew Estate Blackened S84, which take a noticeably softer approach. In this “sister series,” the Ecuador Shade wrapper delivers creamy flavors, a subtle sweetness, and delicate cashew notes, without sacrificing the characteristic spice of the line. Both lines are available as Robusto and Toro and impressively demonstrate how music, craftsmanship, and modern cigar culture can merge into a distinctive smoking experience.