James Hetfield and Rob Dietrich in Zurich

On the evening of 26 May 2026, Club Mareva Beirut found itself in extraordinary company. Woody and Najat were invited to a private gathering at The Valley cigar lounge in Zurich, an intimate room of dark wood, deep leather and slow rising smoke, for a night built around the two passions we live by at Mareva: fine cigars and exceptional whiskey.

The company that evening read like a dream for anyone who loves this world. Among us was James Hetfield, the frontman and cofounder of Metallica, one of the most influential bands in the history of music. Beside him sat Rob Dietrich, the Master Distiller and Blender of Blackened American Whiskey, Metallica's own spirit. Completing the circle were three figures from the heart of Drew Estate: founder Jonathan Drew, alongside Ricardo Ortiz and David Cruz. Bringing everyone together in Switzerland was Raymondo Bernasconi, the man who carries Drew Estate into this part of the world and whose hospitality made the night possible.

The story behind the smoke

To understand why this evening mattered, you have to understand the story these men share. Blackened began in 2018 as a collaboration between Metallica and the late distilling legend Dave Pickerell. After Pickerell's passing, Rob Dietrich, formerly of Stranahan's in Colorado, stepped in to carry the torch. Blackened is no ordinary whiskey. A marriage of bourbons, ryes and other American whiskeys is rested in black brandy casks and then put through a process the team calls sonic enhancement, where Metallica's music is played at low frequencies so the sound physically moves the spirit inside the barrel. The barrel breathes with the music. It is whiskey shaped by sound.

That same friendship gave birth to something we hold close at Mareva: the Blackened cigars by Drew Estate. The project grew out of evenings exactly like this one, with Hetfield and Dietrich smoking together, until Dietrich introduced Hetfield to Jonathan Drew. Two years of sampling, journaling and refining later, the first release arrived. M81 takes its name from 1981, the year Metallica was founded. It is maduro to the core, a dark and bold blend wrapped in Mexican San Andrés tobacco, with a character full of dark chocolate, espresso and warm pepper. A second release, S84, nods to 1984 and the song Fade to Black. The M81 has since earned serious recognition, including a 95 point score and a place among the top cigars of its year in Cigar Aficionado.

The night itself

What we shared at The Valley went far beyond any single bottle or band. We smoked cigars that almost never see the light of a lounge. One was rolled back in 2010, a stick that has rested for roughly fifteen years and now carries all the depth and quiet power that only true age can give a cigar. We also smoked the Liga Privada Único Serie Ratzilla from its first batch, one of the rarest and most chased releases Drew Estate has ever made, a cigar that collectors trade and hunt for years just to taste once. To smoke it in the company of the man whose name is on the door of that factory is something very few people will ever do. We talked cigars the way only people who truly love them can. Construction, wrapper, the patience of aging, the stories behind each blend. Jonathan Drew and his team spoke about craft with the same intensity James Hetfield brings to a stage, and Rob Dietrich moved between whiskey and tobacco with the ease of a man who has built his life around both.

For Woody and Najat, and for all of us at Club Mareva Beirut, moments like these are the reason we do what we do. We have spent years building a home for cigar lovers in Lebanon, and to sit across from the people who shape the very brands we admire, as equals around the same table, was both humbling and unforgettable.

The roar that followed

The timing was no accident. The very next evening, 27 May 2026, Metallica brought their record breaking M72 World Tour to Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, playing in the round to a stadium of more than fifty thousand fans, with Gojira and Knocked Loose alongside them. We had spent the night before in quiet conversation with the people behind the music and the smoke. The next, the whole city roared.

Some evenings you simply remember. This one we will carry with us forever. Our thanks to Raymondo Bernasconi, to Jonathan Drew, Ricardo Ortiz and David Cruz of Drew Estate, to Rob Dietrich and to James Hetfield, for an experience that reminded us exactly why this culture of cigars and whiskey is worth protecting and celebrating.