April 6th: Galler Blended Sao Tome - Tanzanie

Kcal 529 Fat 41.4g Carbs 29.2g (per 100.0g)

Following the several requests I received from readers in regards to getting some Galler chocolates reviewed on the site, I last week brought you my review of the Galler Piemontais. As much as I enjoyed that milk chocolate offering, what I was really keen to try was one of Galler's dark chocolates so I requested they send me a sample of one of the most popular dark chocolate bars they have in their range. My contacts at Galler willingly obliged and sent me this Blended Sao Tome - Tanzanie tablet which comprised of a 70% cocoa recipe derived from two separate cocoa beans from two regions of Africa - Sao Tome & Tanzania (Website - See HERE).

I received this bar in a standard 100.0g size that was split in to several chunky block pieces. The outer packaging was simplistic, yet very effective in giving the chocolate a premium feel, and the finer granularity of information given in the on-pack detail gave the sense that this was a really special and carefully crafted chocolate. Under the cool looking outer black wrapper the chocolate was kept within a thick gold foil which kept the blocks in immaculate condition - check out the clean cut surface and the fine detail of the branding in the photograph above! When I had finally finished admiring the chocolate for it's aesthetics I next noticed the enticing raft of cocoa scents being emanated as I further unwrapped the golden foil coating.

As I have commented above the chocolate blocks looked stunning on the eye, but I have to admit they were not the most ergonomic feeling when placed in the mouth. Personally I found them to be slightly on the large side, and I would have preferred them to have been a little less chunky as they were a bit of a mouthful to consume whole. In the grand scheme of things this was a only a minor annoyance and really did little, if anything to spoil the melt or taste of the chocolate. The melt itself was well paced and the chocolate changed into a liquor form very softly, and with a real smoothness that genuinely felt nice in the mouth. The transformation of the melt was very much like the taste, in that it was also very smooth and resultingly very friendly in it's flavours. The cocoa volume wasn't the loudest ever, but the chocolate established a strong taste as soon as it entered the mouth, and the intensity of the cocoa flavours were consistently kept in check throughout the experience thanks to an underlying buttery sweetness. The taste wasn't particularly progressive from these strong, roasted cocoa flavours, however each mouthful was left with a longing note of bourbon vanilla which nicely rounded off the each encounter.

Overall I am impressed with Galler's first dark chocolate, and whilst I wouldn't say it was the finest I have ever tasted it was no doubt a chocolate of real high quality. My minor issue of the block sizes aside, the texture and taste were both phenomenally smooth and they provided a really comfortable experience that withheld no unnecessary surprises. For the average dark chocolate consumer I think the strength of the bar is just about right, and from a consumer point of view I think the divine consistency in the way the flavours are delivered with such smoothness and with a sweet aftertaste will really strike a cord with many. Whilst I wouldn't say this chocolate had quite the variety or depth of flavours as some of the really, really high quality dark chocolates I have reviewed, I would really recommend it as really well crafted bar that has a slightly friendlier vanilla noted taste than many of the other dark chocolate bars currently on the market. This was a really good quality product from Galler - I hope to try more of their range very soon.

8.5 out of 10