I was intrigued to try this bar after seeing some lovely photos of the bar online and that Lousie and Praveen had completely different views on it.

Looking at the packaging initially I just loved it. There was the slightest bit of damage to the corners, but that was probably my fault for ordering a tin of chocolate tea to go with it. But other than that I just loved the colours, the design, the embossing, how it opened to most other bars, the bit of a story on the back, event more the inside with an insert, the nutritional information … actually everything about the visual appearance.

The usual paradigm of chocolate squares is that they’re not often actually square, but oblong. I’ve not seen the chocolate pieces this shape for a good while. I think the last time was in some hideous milk chocolate bar with a strange filling that seems to have been wiped from my mind completely. These are over an inch long which means that you’ll be breaking them into smaller pieces to enjoy. And enjoy you will. The snap is fairly crisp but you can tell it’s a well-made bar of chocolate as the crystals are incredibly tight.

The aroma was very strong when I first took it out of the wrapper and reminded me of Paul. A. Young’s kitchen and only had the slightest acidity. But when I actually tried it the texture seemed fairly dry. It didn’t seem too enjoyable. But then it sort of kicked in. In a Top Gear kind of way it just seemed there was no acceleration from a standing start but got going after a few seconds of action. After then was very nice texture, not the best ever, but any conscious thought of the texture was taken over by the flavour.

The notes that emanated from the chocolate varied from salted caramel all the way through a bouquet of roses. This is a very floral bar, but one that’s not at all over-powering. I wouldn’t call it the Dolly Parton or Sarah Bernhard of chocolate. It was neither all razzmatazz nor full of bitterly acidity. It was neither the Sandra Bullock as it did the job well. This bar was more of a Rachel Weisz of chocolate, talented, but no Oscar winner, gorgeous and sophisticated, not cheap and slutty; fairly famous but has never appeared on the Johnathon Ross show (I don’t think).

I’d say that this is definitely a summer-time bar of dark chocolate as it is sweet, but only with a touch of bitterness at the end. In fact, it’s a very similar bar to the Chocolate Trading Co. Venezuela Noir, 72% all the texture isn’t quite as inviting. But I shouldn’t be so harsh. This bar doesn’t use any emulsifiers such as soya lecithin so the texture is more likely to be less smooth.

So my mission was to find out who was right, Louise or Praveen? Now that’s a tough call. I wouldn’t put it at the best bar of all time as I felt the texture does distract greatly. But the flavour is light and flowery with no harshness at all.

I’ve been buying chocolate from Chocolate Trading Co. for three or four years. I’ve even done some consulting for them in the past, but I’ve never actually tried any of their own brand chocolate bars. I’ve certainly tried their Easter eggs which are just fantastically original and delicious, but when it comes to their fine chocolate bars I’ve  just not managed to get around to it (they sell fantastic brands that keep distracting me). So when I found out that this bar and their Madagascan 72% cocoa bar on a gold star each in the Great Taste Awards I cheekily asked them to send the bars over to review of which Paul and Gareth duly obliged.

I know the two of them take their chocolate very seriously and I know they’re purists so I’ll treat this bar with the utmost reverence. But, at first I was disappointed with the packaging. I then realised that if its ok for Paul A. Young to wrap his bars in cellophane with a label on and its ok for Jean-Paul Hévin do the same but place it in an “envelope” then it’d be only right for me not to be overly critical on this score.

On the reverse of the bar there’s a nice story about their chocolate ethos and how they like pure, unadulterated chocolate, how there’s no artificial flavourings or preservatives; and for most that would heighten people’s anticipation for what’s inside.

Now this bar is actually made in France and I couldn’t help think that there was a strong resemblance to the Jean-Paul Hévin bars – but that must have just been co-incidence  – how different can a gourmet bar of dark chocolate be? That aside, the colour of the chocolate was superb, being nicely dark but still keeping the characteristic brown colour. There might not be as great a shine as the Pierre Hermé Chuao 70% but is more reminiscent of the Pralus Indonesie 75% Cocoa and I know that I like a nice natural shine on a bar of chocolate, but, of course, I’m more interested in how it tastes.

On this score the bar was absolutely fantastic. I love dark chocolate with a slight sweet, caramel tone to it; and this bar hits that mark perfectly. The aroma is slightly balsamic, but this isn’t followed through into the flavour. This, is the opposite: there’s a wonderful peanut butter note which gives it an incredible richness. However, as that reduces, a fruity edge comes out and reminds me a fruit jam I had as a child but can’t quite place right now – it could have been blackcurrant, or plum?

I also loved the texture. It has an incredibly long melt that holds the flavour throughout and which displays an ever-so slight bitterness at the end. And the flavours last a long time after the chocolate has disappeared. This is a bar that keeps on giving.

And when you add the incredibly loud and crisp – not unlike the Amano Ocumare 70%, it all combines into a fantastic bar of dark chocolate. For some dark chocolate purists it may not be as bitter as they’d like. They’d probably not like the rich, butteriness of it. They probably wouldn’t like the fact that there’s no acidic aroma or the fact that there’s no Beschle-style packaging. But, to be honest, I don’t care. I love this bar. I love the sweetness, I love the richness and I’m very fond of the texture.

Many may not wish to try this bar as it’s an “in house” label. But just this once, step out of your comfort zone, step back away from the Amano, the Valrhona, the Michel Cluizel, the Pralus and the Domori, give this bar a whirl.