Duffy’s Nicaragua Nicaliso 71%
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Sometimes I’ll find chocolate in my collection that I just can’t believe I forgot for so long. This Duffy’s Nicaragua Nicaliso is from batch number 110010, so that’s a fairly early one and has a best before date of 1st March 2012 but I’d wager that it’s even better now than it was the day it left Cleethorpes in early 2011.
The packaging of this bar is somewhat different from Duffy’s usual design in that it features pre-Columbian stone work with a blue tint. Personally I prefer the moody vistas of the Corazon del Ecuador bars, but at the end of the day, it’s the chocolate that counts. But one shouldn’t be so quick to break a square off to taste. I suggest that you unwrap it at your leisure and then stand and marvel at the supreme shine and exact setting. If there could be perfection in appearance then this would be it. Not only is there seemingly a molecular precision, but there’s also the most intense and warming hue. The deep, consistent, dark brown colour is exactly how I like my chocolate.
But on to the flavour. Chocolate that manages to convey a soft, hazelnut undertone with some sharp, cedar wood flavours are ones that I naturally gravitate to. And you can certainly pick these tones out, but only at the side of your mouth. The rest is full of a delicate, soft and a sweet creaminess. If you wanted chocolate that was light, but with that typical “chocolaty” flavour then this exactly what you would be looking for, and its brings back happy memories of sipping on a piña colada whilst looking out on to the Caribbean whilst on holiday in Antigua a few years ago. It’s that rich, creamy tranquillity that is so abundant in this bar and is so similar to the sweet breeze coming off of the cooling sea.
Normally I’d prefer the broodiness of some Pralus bars, but today I love it. One thing I do know is that Duffy’s Chocolate is always a ‘go to’ bar for me, I just wish I had more for my own pleasure.
Duffy’s had problems with production recent so I’m not sure if recent batches are free from any tainting. I’ll have to check, before I mention a source to buy. But I expect he’s in full production again after a slight issue.
Lee McCoy