Galler Chocolate Truffles

I bought these Galler Chocolate Truffles in Harrods when I was down on my chocolate mystery shopping tour and they weren’t cheap at £9.95 from Harrods (what did you expect?). When I was trying to think about how much they cost before checking I thought it was about £6.95 – which isn’t a good sign! Update: they’re £8.45 at the official Galler site.

I decided to buy some Galler chocolaes I’ve heard from others that they’re supposed to be ‘great’, ‘out of this world’ or some other complimentary adjective. When reading other people’s reviews I often find myself taking a different tack – which was the same with these truffles. I thought they were average at best.

I know the tube looks nice and expensive. I know they’re Belgium chocolates and I know they’re on sale in Harrods – so they must be good, right? Well, there’s a Leonidas concession there, so having your products on sale in Harrods doesn’t mean that they’re of quality. It just means you’ve got a brand.

When I opened up the tube I was almost overcome with an overpowering hazelnut laden gas. I’m not sure if this has ever been used in the trenches, but I found it incredibly unpleasant. I’m also not one for hazelnuts or pralines at the best of times, but the aroma did put me off. The problem I had was that it was intensified on opening up the packet.

Having put my nose to one side, figuratively of course, I delved into the packet and found 20 of the truffles looking incredibly dusty (even more than the Terre à Terre Salt Caramel Chocolate Truffles), and, I must admit, fairly enticing.

Unfortunately, they tasted as much of hazelnut as the aroma alluded to. They were exceptionally dry which put it right at the bottom of the truffles I’ve tried recently – below the Melt Truffles, especially the Paul A. Young truffles, and even the Godiva truffles.

Overall I’m very disappointed with these Galler Chocolate Truffles. I expected so much more. It’s not left me never wanting to try their range again, but I won’t revisit their offerings in a hurry. Some might say that my views have been tempered by my slight dislike for praline. However, they were dry – as simple as that. To me chocolate truffles should by slightly moist inside and shouldn’t leave you reaching for a glass of water. The low score they’ll receive is based on this fact.