Drew Estate has announced a new addition to its BLACKENED® by Drew Estate lineup, unveiling the first-ever Lancero vitolas for the BLACKENED M81 and BLACKENED S84 blends.
The new size, a 7 x 40 Lancero, highlights the precision and complexity of both blends, each offered in limited quantities and packaged in 15-count boxes. The release brings a new dimension to the BLACKENED line, which was originally developed through a collaboration between Drew Estate, Metallica’s James Hetfield, and BLACKENED’s Master Distiller Rob Dietrich.
“This new Lancero is a guitar solo in cigar form,” says Jonathan Drew, founder and president of Drew Estate. “It’s long, lean, and delivers deep, concentrated flavor from foot to head. The M81 Lancero slaps with rich, dark, and heavy notes, while the S84 Lancero is like a clean intro riff—smooth, creamy, and soulful—but with that metallic edge.”
The M81 Lancero features the line’s signature Maduro-on-Maduro profile with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Maduro binder, and Maduro fillers from Nicaragua and Pennsylvania. It delivers a dark, earthy character consistent with the original M81 blend. The S84 Lancero, by contrast, uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper over a mix of Nicaraguan and Pennsylvania filler tobaccos, providing a brighter, nuanced profile with the complexity and attitude the series is known for.
According to Drew Estate, the Lancero format emphasizes wrapper-to-filler ratio, concentrating the flavor and showcasing the blends in a unique way. Both expressions will be limited in production, with availability beginning in August 2025 through Drew Diplomat Program retailers.