Foundation Cigar Company Uses Ancient History to Name Latest Cigar
Foundation Cigar Company isn’t new to using ancient history as an inspiration for cigars. Owner & founder Nick Melillo loves ancient history and is using his passion to name the latest release of the Highclere Castle series: Senetjer. Exactly 100 years ago, famed archaeologist Howard Carter and George Herbert, the fifth earl of Carnarvon discovered the tomb of King Tut, the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. The Herbert family worked with Melillo before on the Highclere Castle cigars, and they do again with this limited edition that comes in a box which resembles a box found in the tomb.
“To celebrate the centenary of this amazing find, we have created the Senejter blend, which is a homage to the cigars enjoyed by my family in the roaring twenties,” says George Herbert, the eighth earl of Carnarvon and great-grandson of the fifth earl.
The Highclere Castle Senetjer will be available in one size: a perfecto measuring 6 3/4 inches by 52 ring gauge. A.J. Fernandez makes the cigars for Foundation Cigar Company with a blend that includes Ecuador Habano and Brazilian Mata Fina binder.
Highclere Castle Cigar co-founder Adam von Gootkin hired archaeologists Colleen and John Darnell to advise on the project and assist the packaging, which is quite elaborate. “We have translated the Highclere Castle name into ancient hieroglyphics as presented on the box facing,” von Gootkin states. “The hieroglyphs express the exact translation of Highclere Castle into 3,000-year-old Egyptian as follows: ‘The Great Domain; she who is high, she who is bright, she who is clear.’”
Senetjer is the ancient Egyptian word for incense, which in direct translation means “of the gods.” The scarab atop of the presentation box is the symbol of the Egyptian god Khepri and signifies rebirth.
Senejter will debut at the PCA trade show and will reach retailers in the fall. The cigars are limited in production to batches of 700 boxes, each with 12 cigars, and they will be released quarterly.
