Chocolate review: Valrhona Christian Lacroix Grand Crux Noir

Chocolate review: Valrhona Christian Lacroix Grand Crux Noir

I almost forgot writing about this box of chocolates and so I'm posting this on this All Saints' Day and perhaps try to put some "Undas" angle to this article.

The box is already quite enticing and perhaps what led to this being purchased at the duty free shop

Details at the back of the wrap-around packaging

I enlarged this a bit to clearly show the four type of bonbons

Nutrition information and the price tag on the cover

The box after the removal of the fancy cover

As if the suspense was not enough there's another cover for good measure

Removing the cover reveals 16 bonbons

A close-up of the bonbons

Priced at 35 USD when it was purchased, this was definitely a good buy. The exquisite chocolate bonbons seem more appropriate for Valentine's Day but is perfect for any day including today. As mentioned in the movie "Forrest Gump", life is like a box of chocolates. At times, it can be simply sweet. Some times it can be quite spicy. I don't think you really don't know what you'll get because in many cases, you can have a fair expectation of what you'll get or what you can look forward to. But then the latter cases are those brought about by one's actions and the consequences are to be expected if not wanted or desirable. That is life and how those who went ahead of us lived it. We remember them today and with love.

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Chocolate review: Villars dark pure 72%

Chocolate review: Villars dark pure 72%

There is another Villars bar that we had before my trip to Australia last July (so you know this is quite a late post). I remember purchasing this from Santis one time I was getting wine to be given away as tokens for speakers at an event we hosted. This bar "got lost" under the other chocolates as we tried to enjoy the ones we bought earlier and were to expire ahead of the others.

Villars dark pure 72%

Details about the chocolate at the back of the box

This chocolate claims a minimum of 72% cacao content

Nutrition information

This chocolate was surprisingly good for one with 72% cacao. It was smooth and not so bitter for a 72%. I got this from Santis so its easy to get some of these bars if necessity calls for it. I think we currently have a lot of excellent chocolates in stock at home as the Australian chocolates have only seen one bar consumed and I recently bought a good sampling of chocolates from Vietnam. There are also Italian chocolates and some Valrhona bars. Still, I think I would be getting a bar or two of this chocolate should I be at Santis again.

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Chocolate review: Leonidas dark 54% Nibs

Chocolate review: Leonidas dark 54% Nibs

Part of our older stash was a bar of Leonidas chocolate that I got from a trip last year. We forgot about this as we got more chocolate from our trips the past months. Somehow, I found this as I tried to put some order to our chocolate cache.

Leonidas dark 54% nibs

Details about the chocolate at the back of the box

Information on the maker

Details about the ingredients including that the chocolate had a minimum 54% cacao.

This was one of the smoothest dark chocolates we've had. It was worth the wait though it was because we only had one bar and I forgot we had one. Unfortunately, I don't recall how much I got this chocolate for. I do remember though that I purchased this at NAIA Terminal 3 as part of several bars that I got with the travel light promo they have at Duty Free Philippines. This 100g bar should easily be more than 5 USD (more than 250 PHP) but it is worth it.

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Chocolate review: Villars Dark Orange

Chocolate review: Villars Dark Orange

Another chocolate that I remember getting at the Cocoa Tree shop at the airport is one from Villars. I had almost forgotten this chocolate and was pleasantly surprised seeing a bar of their dark chocolate with orange at the back of the refrigerator.

Villars Dark Orange

Details on the chocolate at the back of the box

The bar claims to have 50% minimum cacao. The orange is stated to have been sourced from Southern Italy.

Nutrition information.

This chocolate retailed for about PHP 250. I think that's fair for a very good chocolate in a 100g bar. The chocolate is just about right in terms of the mix of bitter and sweet, with the sweetness mainly coming from the candied orange peels.

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Chocolate review: Torino Noir Dark Chocolate with Hazelnut Filling

Chocolate review: Torino Noir Dark Chocolate with Hazelnut Filling

Here is another chocolate that we forgot about in storage (read: the back of our refrigerator). I found this bar with what was left of our most recent stash of dark chocolates and decided to eat it not because of curiosity but because its label indicated that it would be the first to expire among the chocolates we had in reserve. The date at the back of the label though did not indicate expiration but most likely was a "best before" information.

Dark chocolate with hazelnut filling

Details on the chocolate at the back

Nutrition information

Ingredients

I think I got this one from a trip to Santis to purchase some wine. I was curious about the hazelnut filling for this dark chocolate but I only got one bar because the Clairvoyant was not really a fan of this type of chocolates with fillings unless the chocolates happen to be the really good ones that we've tried before. If it were from Santis then its likely that this cost about 125 PHP, which is not so expensive for a 100g Swiss chocolate bar. We thought that the filling was just the right texture and flavor to mix with the minimum 47% cocoa. It was more on the sweet rather than the bitter side of dark chocolates. I will try to get a bar or two again soon just to get reacquainted with this chocolate.

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