Foundation Cigar Co. has shipped the 2026 edition of Highclere Castle Senetjer, the annual limited perfecto created around the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb. Cigar Aficionado reported on Nov. 12 that boxes began shipping to retailers the day before. halfwheel also reported the shipment on Nov. 12, citing that Cigar Aficionado post for price and production.
The cigar is a 6 3/4 x 52 double-tapered perfecto, the same size Senetjer has used since it debuted. It is made in Nicaragua by A.J. Fernandez at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A. The 2026 blend, Cigar Aficionado reports, is a seventh-priming Ecuador Habano wrapper, a Brazilian Mata Fina binder, and Nicaraguan fillers that Foundation says have been aged for three years.
Each cigar has a suggested retail price of $33, or $396 for a 12-count box, the same as last year. Production is limited to 750 boxes of 12, or 9,000 cigars. halfwheel notes that is slightly higher than last year’s release, which was limited to 8,400 cigars.
Why the Cigar Is Named Senetjer
Senetjer is a collaboration between Foundation’s Nick Melillo and George Herbert, the eighth Earl of Carnarvon. It debuted in 2022 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the discovery and excavation of Tutankhamun’s tomb on Nov. 4, 1922, by Howard Carter and the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, also named George Herbert. The fifth earl’s home was Highclere Castle, which held artifacts from the expeditions he funded. Senetjer is the ancient Egyptian word for incense, or, as Foundation’s own product page puts it, “that which makes holy.”
Cigar Aficionado says the cigar was initially a quarterly release and was switched last year to an annual November shipment, timed to the tomb anniversary. That is the cadence this 2026 release is following.
The packaging is part of the point. Cigar Aficionado says the 12-count boxes are made to resemble an actual box found in the tomb, with Egyptian hieroglyphics and iconography throughout. halfwheel adds that the packaging was designed in collaboration with archaeologists Colleen and John Darnell, and that Highclere Castle is translated into ancient hieroglyphics and inscribed on the facing of the box. Highclere later became famous as the setting of the television series “Downton Abbey,” which is how a lot of people first heard the name, even if the cigar’s story is older than the show’s.
We have not seen a new, detailed flavor description from Foundation for the 2026 edition in the coverage we reviewed. Foundation’s product page still describes the line in broader terms and, on the public page we checked, still lists the filler as undisclosed, even as Cigar Aficionado reports Foundation saying the 2026 fillers are Nicaraguan tobaccos aged three years. We are using Cigar Aficionado’s 2026 reporting for the blend, price and production, and we are not inventing a tasting note to go with it.
The Ecuadorian wrapper is worth a second look this fall. We recently walked through what Ecuador’s wrapper shortage means for the cigars that actually reach smokers. There is no public note in this coverage that Senetjer’s seventh-priming Habano is affected, but it is another reminder of how much a wrapper origin can matter when supply tightens.
The aged Nicaraguan filler also puts this release in a broader fall theme. We have been tracking that in the aged-tobacco releases defining fall 2026 and in The Art of Aging Cigars. Three years is not a marketing slogan here; it is the aging period Foundation attached to the filler in the 2026 reporting.
halfwheel says an email to Foundation for more information on the release had not been returned at the time of its story. The facts we have are the ones already published by Cigar Aficionado and summarized by halfwheel: the ship date, the size, the blend, the $33 price, and the 750-box run.
If you are mapping the rest of the year’s launches, our guide to new cigars releasing in 2026 is a useful companion. Senetjer is the kind of annual limited that shows up in November, in a distinctive box, and does not linger once shops have sold through 12-count allocations.
Highclere Castle Senetjer 2026 at a Glance
- Company: Foundation Cigar Co., in collaboration with George Herbert, eighth Earl of Carnarvon
- Size: 6 3/4 x 52 double-tapered perfecto
- Wrapper: Ecuador, seventh-priming Habano
- Binder: Brazil, Mata Fina
- Filler: Nicaragua, aged three years, per Foundation as reported by Cigar Aficionado
- Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.
- Packaging: 12-count box designed to resemble a storage box from Tutankhamun’s tomb
- Price: $33 per cigar, $396 per box
- Production: 750 boxes of 12 (9,000 cigars), slightly above last year’s 8,400
- Status: Shipped to retailers starting Nov. 11, 2026
The Cigar Guys’ Take
Senetjer is now an annual November ritual: one perfecto, one very specific box, a King Tut story that actually belongs to Highclere Castle, and a short allocation. The 2026 change that matters on paper is not a new size. It is a slightly larger run than last year, at the same $33 price, with a seventh-priming Ecuador Habano over Mata Fina and three-year-aged Nicaraguan filler.
If you already buy this every fall, the question is simply whether your shop got one of the 750 boxes. If you have never had it, this is a limited, gift-friendly perfecto with a box that will get more attention than the band. Call your Foundation retailer. At 9,000 cigars nationwide, it will not sit around until Christmas.
Keep it locked to The Cigar Guys Podcast for more cigar news every week.
Sources: Cigar Aficionado: Highclere Castle Senetjer Returns For 2026 (Nov. 12, 2026) · halfwheel: Highclere Castle Senetjer 2026 On the Way to Stores (Nov. 12, 2026) · Foundation Cigar Co.: Highclere Castle Senetjer
