James Hetfield Fulfills the Rich Old Man Stereotype by Getting Into the Cigar Business

I don’t know what it is, but James Hetfield definitely the cigar guy stereotype — old, rich, white, digs old cars, and suddenly into woodworking during the pandemic. Or maybe he’s just looking for a side hustle. Sure, the biggest band in the world got a burst of popularity among Gen Z listeners after being featured in Stranger Things, but what if those new fans got bored and moved onto the next big TikTok trend? You know, like Ghost’s “Mary on a Cross.”

Whatever the reasoning, Hetfield recently announced a new business venture he was undertaking with Drew Estate Cigars and Blackened whiskey master distiller Rob Dietrich, called Blackened Cigars M81 by Drew Estate.

In a recent interview with Cigar Aficionado magazine, Hetfield explained that to start the business, he decided to team up with cigar maker Jonathan Drew and Dietrich to launch the product. The cigars are made in Nicaragua and contain leaves from Mexico, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Nicaragua.

“It is really a fun social thing for me, a fellowship, to have a few buddies sit around with a few sticks. My buddy, Rob Dietrich, Blackened (Whiskey)’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 cigars will be launched at the magazine’s Big Smoke Las Vegas convention November 11 and 12, and then they’ll be for sale in stores in December for $9 to $11. To find out if that’s a good price for cigars or not, because I have no clue, read Cigar Aficionado.