On Wednesday, September 28, during their “Freestyle Live: Special Edition” broadcast, Drew Estate revealed the “mystery cigar” sent with the company’s latest Freestyle Live Event Packs. Joined on the broadcast by Metallica’s James Hetfield and Blackened American Whiskey Master Distiller, Rob Dietrich, said mystery cigar was the all-new BLACKENED Cigars “M81” by Drew Estate. Calling it, “an exploration into the deepest, darkest and heaviest depths of the mystical Maduro leaf,” the new release is the result of a passion project between Hetfield, Dietrich and Drew Estate Founder and President, Jonathan Drew. 1981 was the year Metallica released their first album, hence, the ‘M81’ in the name.
“It is really a fun social thing for me, a fellowship, to have a few buddies sit around with a few sticks,” said Hetfield. “Rob 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 known each other for over a decade and always wanted to collaborate on something special. The Blackened cigar project seemed to be the perfect opportunity. Samples from the Drew Estate portfolio were sent to Hetfield and Dietrich who kept journals with critiques of the cigars identifying what they liked and disliked about each sample. Two years later, the trio decided on the exact flavor profile that would become BLACKENED Cigars M81 by Drew Estate.
“This was a project that was purely born from passion …for music, for fellowship, for life, and all the in-between moments within,” said Dietrich. “James, Jonathan and I worked together to create what we feel like is the perfect cigar. The result is truly a monster of flavor—all-maduro, designed with definitive depth for darker and bolder palates.”
BLACKENED Cigars “M81” by Drew Estate takes the smoker on a journey through different Maduro leaves. A thick, oily Maduro wrapper grown in the rich volcanic soil of Mexico’s San Andres Valley opens the show. Below that is a meaty Connecticut River Valley Broadleaf Maduro binder followed by Nicaraguan and Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro filler tobaccos, including the boldest Pennsylvania Broadleaf ligero in Drew Estate’s massive tobacco inventory. Maduro through and through, the smoke is dark, bold, rich, and powerful with alluring notes of espresso, leather, and dark chocolate.
Presented in beautiful copper-accented black 20-count boxes, BLACKENED Cigars ‘M81’ by Drew Estate debuts in four sizes:
Corona (5″ x 43) MSRP $183/box or $9.15/cigar
Robusto (5″ x 50) MSRP $189/box or $9.45/cigar
Toro (6″ x 52) MSRP $197/box or $9.85/cigar
Corona Doble (7″ x 50) MSRP $207/box or $10.35/cigar
“Hetfield, Dietrich, and the Drew Estate team have dedicated an immense amount of time into this historic brand,” added Jonathan. “BLACKENED Cigars ‘M81’ by Drew Estate reveals layer-after-layer of Maduro’s deepest, darkest, most magical, and mysterious character that narrates a defining story of just one thing … passion!!!” CA
Executive Editor
Gary Korb has been writing and editing content for CigarAdvisor.com since its debut in 2008. An avid cigar smoker for over 30 years, he has worked on the marketing side of the premium cigar business as a Sr. Copywriter, blogger, and Executive Editor of Cigar Advisor. A graduate of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, prior to his career in the cigar business, Gary worked in the music and video industry as a marketer and a publicist.
Show all Gary Korb's Articles
Reading Time: 8 minutes Quick! Which cigar-making country makes the best cigars? Not so fast. Gary goes into investigative mode to talk with cigar makers who work in the three biggest cigar making countries to find the surprising truth.
Reading Time: 6 minutes Cigar burning up one side only? Burning unevenly? Not burning at all? We can solve these problems and more. See our handy guide inside on common cigar burning issue fixes!
Reading Time: 6 minutes You may not be pulling the cover off the pool just yet, but Spring has kicked into gear – and there’s no shortage of new players on the field. So let’s get down to it: Click here to see our list of seven fresh top new cigars!
When will they be available?