11/26/2022
Blackened Ci**rs “M81” By Drew Estate
BLACKENED Ci**rs “M81” by Drew Estate is a passion project that brings together three immensely talented and vastly experienced cigar enthusiasts—Jonathan Drew, Founder and President of Drew Estate; James Hetfield, Metallica co-founder, singer and guitarist; and Rob Dietrich, the Master Distiller and Blender of BLACKENED American Whiskey. The collaboration began with Hetfield and Dietrich, who frequently enjoy ci**rs together.
“It is really a fun social thing for me, a fellowship, to have a few buddies sit around with a few sticks,” Hetfield says. “My buddy, Rob Dietrich, BLACKENED’s Master Distiller, and I frequently enjoy ci**rs 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.”
Having been friends for well over a decade, Dietrich and Drew always wanted to combine their talents to collaborate on something special, and this seemed to be the perfect opportunity. Samples from the Drew Estate portfolio were sent to Hetfield and Dietrich who kept cigar journals to critique the ci**rs and identify what they liked and disliked about each one. After two years of enjoying and sampling ci**rs together, the group decided on the exact flavor profile that would become BLACKENED Ci**rs “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,” says 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 Ci**rs “M81” by Drew Estate presents a journey through different Maduro leaves, starting with a thick and oily Maduro wrapper that’s grown in the rich volcanic soil of Mexico’s San Andres Valley. The blend includes a thick and meaty Connecticut River Valley Broadleaf Maduro binder and a filler blend of Nicaraguan and Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro to***cos, including the boldest Pennsylvania Broadleaf ligero in Drew Estate’s vast to***co inventory. Maduro to the Core, BLACKENED Ci**rs “M81” by Drew Estate is dark, bold, rich and powerful with alluring notes of espresso, leather and dark chocolate.
“Hetfield, Dietrich, and the DE team have dedicated an immense amount of time into this historic brand,” adds Drew. “BLACKENED Ci**rs ‘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!!!”