A Bronx Tale Calogero Robusto

Celebrity-endorsed cigars seem to come in waves; no doubt, the last few years have been one of the more impressive waves. During that time, the cigar world has seen Espinosa Premium Cigars and Guy Fieri, the celebrity chef, partner for Knuckle Sandwich Cigars as well as Drew Estate partner with the members of Metallica for Blackened Cigars.

In the spirit of everything comes in threes, the third new celebrity cigar partnership of the last couple of years has been Epic Cigars partnering with the actor Chazz Palminteri, who is best known for A Bronx Tale, the 1993 film in which he starred alongside Robert De Niro.

In 2023, the company released a cigar called A Bronx Tale in a single 6 x 54 box-pressed toro vitola that was limited to 3,000 boxes of 10 cigars. Earlier this year, the release was turned into a regular production line called A Bronx Tale Calogero.

At least on paper, the blend remains the same: an Ecuadorian habano wrapper over a Dominican binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. It is made at Tabacalera Von Eicken S.R.L. in the Dominican Republic in collaboration with Paul DiSilvio of La Casa Grande Tobacco Co., a cigar factory and store located on Arthur Ave. in the Bronx.

The Calogero is offered in four vitolas:

• A Bronx Tale Calogero Robusto (5 1/2 x 52) — $12.40 (Box of 20, $248)
• A Bronx Tale Calogero Toro (6 x 54) — $12.60 (Box of 20, $252)
• A Bronx Tale Calogero Torpedo (6 x 52) — $12.80 (Box of 20, $256)
• A Bronx Tale Calogero Gordo (6 x 60) — $13.20 (Box of 20, $264)

While the 6 x 54 vitola is also part of the regular production line, all four of the new vitolas are round. In addition, they carry a secondary band that says Calogero.

As for why Calogero, a note inside of each box explains that it is named after Palminteri’s grandfather:

A DEDICATION TO MY GRANDFATHER

I dedicate this cigar, “The Calogero,” in honor of my grandfather Calogero Palminteri who came to America in search of a better life. Calogero Palminteri was born and raised in Menfi, Sicily to a humble family. In late 1908, my grandfather journeyed from Sicily to Palermo, boarding the S.S. Principe Di Piemonte bound for New York City. The following year, Calogero docked at Ellis Island, disembarked, and was so overcome that he dropped to his knees, kissed the ground and felt the blessing of America. I have fond memories of my grandfather, who loved family, good wine and a great cigar. This cigar is for my grandfather Calogero and all the hard-working men and women who came to this country with just a dream.

Chazz Calogero Palminteri

• Cigar Reviewed: A Bronx Tale Calogero Robusto
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacalera Von Eicken S.R.L.
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Habano)
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua
• Length: 5 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $12.40 (Box of 20, $248)
• Release Date: March 2024
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

As much as I love the use of the street sign on the top of the main band, the longer I stare at the cigars, some notable imperfections become apparent. The wrapper is a pretty neutral color for a cigar, not as red as it looks in the picture above. Unfortunately, it’s light enough in color that it does little to hide any blemishes, including what could be cleaner wrapper application. Through the cellophane, I can see that the second cigar has some weird light spots towards the foot. Upon close inspection, it appears that the wrapper chipped away, more on that in the Final Notes. Once removed from cellophane, I’m surprised what happens when I sniff the first cigar: it smells like a scent I associate as the aroma of grape soda. It’s probably been more than a decade since I’ve had grape soda, so I can’t be sure, but the wrapper smells more like a flavored cigar than not. That’s the story for the second and third cigars, though those are a bit more muted and the third cigar has some artificial cherry as well. The first cigar’s foot smells like a flavored cigar with the artificial sweet fruity flavors mixing with some dry woods and acorns, not all that unfamiliar for a flavored cigar. What’s odd is that the second cigar smells mostly like a traditional cigar with dry wood and acorns and only a faint hint of any artificial flavoring, around medium-full. Then there’s the third cigar which doesn’t really smell like anything at its foot, though I can certainly pick up tertiary notes of the wrapper. There is one fool-proof test for if a cigar is flavored: cutting and lighting it up. Once cut, there are no signs of it being flavored. The first cigar’s cold draw is pretty muted with some melted chocolate ice cream, other types of creaminess and some typical tobacco sweetness and woodiness; it’s not all that interesting, medium-plus and the draw is open. The second cigar also has a loose draw but with flavors that remind me of plain Cheerios with minor amounts of woodiness underneath. The third cigar is sweeter—closer to a sweet floral than anything else—with Cheerios and dry earth as close secondary flavors; it’s medium-full and has a draw with normal resistance.

With both the first and second A Bronx Tale Calogero Robustos, the loose draws cause me to struggle to get enough smoke to make a solid first puff. The second puffs have lots of woody flavors with some dry soil, generic sweetness and some funkiness that makes the earth get acidic. The third cigar ends up with a tight draw and flavors of earthiness, creaminess, woodiness and, shortly thereafter, the aforementioned Cheerios flavors. The first two cigars are quite similar: semi-loose draws with a very basic flavor led by plain Cheerios over some earthiness, wood and breadcrumbs. There’s nothing in the way of sweet, spicy, salty or even off-putting, it’s just a very plain flavor that tastes like Cheerios. The third cigar is an outlier in both draw and flavor: the draw is quite tight and the flavor is much sharper. It leads to a spicy earthiness as the main flavor with the Cheerios as a secondary flavor, though there’s also some off-putting damp caret flavors during the finish. Retrohales are also a tale of two cigars. For the first two: Cheerios over leather, white pepper and some pretzel shell flavors, while the third cigar tastes like a pile of fall leaves that have decayed overtop that Cheerios flavor. Whatever the case, the plain Cheerios flavor is the most obvious part of the finish, joined by mild amounts of sweetness and harshness. Flavor is medium-plus for the first two cigars and medium-full for the third, body is medium to medium-plus and strength is just below medium. Only one cigar needs a touch-up, but all three cigars could use better draws.

The texture of the flavor changes, getting a bit grittier. The good news is that this adds more flavor, though not exactly my favorite sensations. As with the first third, the first two cigars are similar, with the Cheerios flavor still the most prominent overtop some bitter earthiness, hay and black pepper. The third cigar has elements of ranch dressing on par with the Cheerios, but there’s also added metallic aspects and sharpness. Fortunately, the added flavors really provide more depth to the finish. It has some popcorn, meatiness and walnuts joining the Cheerios though the third cigar is creamier albeit with some added sharpness. Retrohales for the first cigar are similar to earlier parts, though with some added minerals and white pepper. The second cigar keeps the Cheerios, but it’s joined by hints of berries and a stale bottled water flavor, while the third cigar has salted crackers with some of the ranch elements, creaminess and a sensation that reminds me of the smell of fresh cut grass. The finish of the first two cigars is quite plain: some dry crackers or Cheerios over earthiness and a generic tobacco flavor. There’s an added harshness for the third cigar, but it too just fiddles down to tasting like I ate a bunch of dry plain Cheerios. Flavor is full, body is medium-plus or medium-full and strength remains medium. The draws remain where they were during the first third: two cigars have an open draw but the third cigar has a tight draw. Fortunately, the smoke production is fine on all three, though I’m having to smoke with a more deliberate puff rate than normal. The cigar that needed a touch-up in the first third needs another one to correct a gnarly-looking burn line, but the second and third cigars have near perfect burn lines.

To some degree, there’s a bit of a reshuffling of the A Bronx Tale Calogero Robustos in the final third. I find the first and third cigars to be more similar, with a very generic earthiness leading black pepper, some starchiness and harshness. The second cigar has certainly been the most Cheerios-forward and it now seems like I’m doing a deconstructed Cheerios tasting where the grain flavor is separated from a very plain bread flavor. There’s also black pepper and a bitter creaminess but neither flavor is as prominent than the Cheerios. Each cigar finishes a bit differently but they are all harsher than they’ve been before. The first cigar has earthiness with lots of white pepper over black pepper and lemongrass. I find the second cigar to have a dense profile during the finish with dry creaminess leading some metallic elements. The third cigar is getting metallic, but not as bad as the second cigar; there’s dry cracker and herbal flavors, not as much Cheerios as before. Retrohales have different bread flavors, but it’s all pretty similar to the Cheerios flavor. Secondary notes include harshness, table salt and sourness—fortunately, it’s not metallic. The finish adds some saltiness and acidity, both are minor notes compared to the dry bread flavor. Flavor is medium-full to full, while body and strength range from mild-medium to medium. All three cigars need touch-ups during the final third, though the draws remain the larger issue.

Final Notes

• While cellophane will typically prevent any sort of cross-contamination between a flavored/infused cigar and a traditional cigar, I was curious if it was possible that the aromas I smelled were the result of being shipped with a flavored cigar. None of the other cigars we purchased were flavored: these cigars were taken out of the shipping bag and then I smelled them, meaning zero chance of that happening on our end.
• Similarly, these cigars were shipped with a Boveda, so the potential issue of the cigars being dry would be caused before they got to our office.
• I have noticed that the primary and secondary bands have been off-center on more and more cigars. That’s the case here. As someone who’s tried to put bands on cigars before, I can tell you that, like every part of the cigar-making process, it is much more difficult than it looks.

• This is a picture of the second cigar and the spots. To me, it looks like these are below the rest of the wrapper, perhaps the very top part of the wrapper leaf chipping or more likely parts of the wrapper have chipped off and the light spots are the binder.
• All three cigars had issues with the caps cracking once cut. While the cigars didn’t feel rock hard, it seems possible that they got dried out before we purchased them.
• Removing the band of the third cigar helped open the cigar up a little bit but didn’t fix the issue, which seemed to be a knot or two just below the cap.
• I don’t really know what this cigar was supposed to taste like, but the first two were some of the plainest-tasting cigars I’ve reviewed in quite some time. While that’s not great for a halfwheel review, I’d argue that’s actually the ideal starting point for a celebrity-endorsed cigar. In my mind, the main point of getting a celebrity to endorse your cigar is to sell the product to the widest audience possible.
  • The easiest way to not do that is to make a mess of the distribution.
  • The second easiest way to not do that is to make it very expensive.
  • The third easiest way is to make it too strong for a non-smoker or even occasional smoker to finish.
• Fortunately for Zander-Greg/Epic, none of that is happening here.
• Despite writing “Cheerios” more than I can ever recall doing in a cigar review, I have zero desire to go buy any. Then again, I’m normally a “skips breakfast” person.
• Epic is part of Zander-Greg.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel. We were sent a box of the toros, which weren’t used for this review.

• The cigars are listed at 5 1/2 x 52, the above are the dimensions I found when weighing and measuring the cigars.
• Final smoking time ranged from one hour and 30 minutes for the first two cigars to just under two hours for the third. With the tighter draw, I allowed myself to take longer breaks in between puffs as I wasn’t concerned with the cigar going out.
• Site sponsor Cigars Direct carries the A Bronx Tale Calogero Robusto.