January 8th: Montezuma's Milk Chocolate & Butterscotch

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

A Montezuma's product that isn't from their 'Speciality Bars' range? What am I up to!? Indeed, even I was surprised when I saw this latest bar turn up from Montezuma's as it was at last a bar that offered something just a little different from the twelve other Montezuma's products I had reviewed previosuly. This bar came described as 'dark side milk chocolate with butterscotch pieces' and like every Montezuma's bar that had gone before was formed of totally organic ingredients. Although I don't buy much into the whole organically produced claims I think it is worth noting the business principles that Montezuma's operate as according to their packaging they operate through 'trading fairly' regulations with all their business partners from beans to bar. I think that is always nice to hear especially from some of the smaller companies whose profit margins have to be pushed already.

As I have already mentioned it was nice to finally try a product that was a slightly different proposition to the Speciality Bars range and this product came in a 100.0g size. Unfortunately just like every Montezuma's product I have reviewed before I had the same mixed feelings when it came down to the presentation. On one hand the outer cardboard packaging looked fantastic with the black background setting a sophisticated tone with some clever use of nicely styled fonts. Inside though the chocolate itself was a different story altogether as it kept within one of Montezuma's famous tacky looking plastic wrappers whilst also looking boringly plain with no patterns or branding on the blocks. Of course my preference would have been for the chocolate to be kept within a foil packet but at least a fairly strong aroma of cocoa was evident once the wrapping was split.

Over the last few years I have often criticised Montezuma's milk chocolate for being unremarkable and lacking a distinctive taste but I was pleased this wasn't quite such the case here. As the description suggested ('dark side milk chocolate') the level of cocoa solids used for this bar was relatively high (54%) and this was thankfully truly evident through the taste. Unlike previous Montezuma's milk chocolates I have tasted the flavours were evident as soon as the chocolate hit the tongue and a cocoa centric taste was immediately established supported by a strong under current of creamy milk flavours. The chocolate hit was strong with a slight smokey note, however still remained relatively sweet with a dried milk undertone that was present throughout the taste. The butterscotch element was perhaps not implemented quite as generously as I might have hoped though in almost every bite a small hint of caramel and toffee could be detected whenever a small crunchy crystallised piece was found within the smooth melting milk chocolate. With the chocolate really packing a punch in the flavour department this wasn't a bar that needed to be eaten in vast quantities and a 30.0g serving was more than satisfying.

Overall this was definitely one of the better Montezuma's products I have had in awhile and it was at last nice to see a bit of boldness from their milk chocolate. I thought that the 'dark side milk chocolate' concept really worked and much preferred this recipe to their standard milk chocolate which I personally think lacks a distinctive taste compared to some of the other more massed produced chocolates on the UK market. Although I really enjoyed the execution of the chocolate in this bar I sill think that the butterscotch element could have been done just a little bit better and I think it could have been portioned a bit more generously as some bites lacked the presence of butterscotch completely. Having tried my fair share of disappointing products from Montezuma's it was nice to finally see them step up and their game and I will definitely be trying more from this standard bar range. If you are a person looking to dip their toes in the dark chocolate market without being too adventurous I think this would be a great bar to start off with.

8.1 out of 10