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Below are my handpicked selections from the most memorable of the products I reviewed in 2010, and also the all important READERS CHOICE AWARD 2010 that you guys all picked yourselves. Without further hesitancy lets dish some snazzy looking award banners out to the winners ...
I don't think anyone will be surprised by the winner of this award - I don't think any bookies would have even given you odds :D Lets not let some of the other stinkers get away quite so easily though - lets not forget the dismal showings from a very suspect Ador Mocha Oat Bar, Nestle;s Black Magic Classic Favourites and even the Thorntons' Raspberry Burst.
As bad as those all were there could only be one winner though ...
Le Whif (Breatheable Chocolate)These chocolate inhalers were really something to behold - not only did they induce near death coughing fits, they also managed to taste disgusting and cost an absolute bomb. I'll save you the full marketing mix analysis, but these were incredibly bad!
Looking back across my selection box reviews there were some very memorable chocolate collections, and honourable mentions must go to the Lindt Swiss Luxury Collection, Hotel Chocolat The Sleekster Everything Selection and Hotel Chocolat The Sleekster Egg Box Selection.
There can only be one winner though, and that winner is ...
Hotel Chocolat The Sleekster Classic Christmas Selection
This was a masterful selection of chocolates that combined variety and great, seasonal tasting options. It attracted a lot of votes in the Readers Awards, and is well worthy of being crowned Selection Box of 2010.
This is one of my favourite awards as I think it gives the truest reflection of what product is really deserving of some mass acclaim i.e. not just based on what I think :D . In fact I can reveal I received nearly 1000 votes picking the winner for this award (Twitter and the offer of FREE chocolate helped alot with that one would assume haha!) and there were several different 2010 reviews suggested. There was one distinct winner, but I must pass mention to the likes of Hotel Chocolat The Sleekster Classic Christmas Selection, Lindt Petits Desserts Tiramisu, Chocri 'Jim's Fruit & Nut / American Creations' and several different Pocky reviews, as these products all recieved a vast amount of votes.
One brand really caught the imagination of ChocolateMission readers this year though, and it came as no surprise to me that it was a Heavenly Cakes product that won. Counting up the votes it was a very tight run thing between several of the Heavenly Cakes range but the eventual winner was ...
Heavenly Cakes Marathon Flapjack
Yes the Marathon Flapjack beat off tough competition to win the title of Readers Choice 2010. If you are one of the readers that voted for this review, but still haven't indulged yourself in a slice yet, I strongly suggest you do. It really is as good as you think it will be!
Out of all the categories this is probably the most ambiguous, questionable, debatable ... say what you will. In 2010 I was near writing a review a day, sampling just as many chocolates to keep up with the hectic pace. As you can imagine, things get a little same old, same old, so every now and then I always appreciate a product that really shakes things up, even if they don't end up setting the ChocolateMission leaderboard ablaze.
With that in my mind you will understand why I haven't handed this award to the likes of Galler or Hotel Chocolat - I expect good quality from these guys given their premium proposition. From all my reviews in 2010, the one product that genuinely surprised me was ...
Zotter Coffee Plum with Caramelised BaconIf you were a dedicated reader throughout 2010, you will have seen that my experiments with bacon and chocolate weren't always successful (Chocri Jim's American Creation) but Zotter really pulled it out the bag here. This Zotter Coffee Plum with Caramelised Bacon was nothing other than delicious. The saltiness of the bacon, the sweetness of the caramel and the delightful outer chocolate made this a chocolate to behold and exceeded my expectations by a factor of ten. I don't for one minute think it is a chocolate that everyone will enjoy, but I would strongly recommend you at least give it a chance.
In 2010 we had several new products come to market - way too many for me try and mention in this small round-up paragraph. The ones that stick out in my mind personally were the launches of the Cadbury Dairy Bar of Plenty, Galaxy Orange & Shortcake, Cadbury Dairy Milk Bliss, Twix Fino ... the list could go on forever.
One brand however, innovated constantly throughout the year, and most importantly did so with a high degree of quality throughout. Indeed Ritter Sport struck gold with several of their 'new' bars this year. The Ritter Sport Winter-Kreations and Ritter Sport Summer 2010 offerings were fine examples of them at the best. There can only be one winner though ....
Ritter Sport Espresso
My favourite new product of 2010 has to the Ritter Sport Espresso. This bar was everything I wanted it to be, and I'm constantly nagging the Ritter team over in Germany to start selling it here in the UK
I'm sure it will come as little surprise to you that the category of Misc Product of year is dominated by one company in particular. Indeed, the emergence of Heavenly Cakes this year might mean that some of the following may be a distant memory to you all - Marks & Spencer Milk Chocolate & Caramel Layered Cookies, Thorntons Mini Caramel Flapjacks and the Flipz Double-Dipped Peanut Butter & Chocolate
The winner however could only have come from Heavenly Cakes, and with great difficulty I have managed to narrow the winner down to ...
Heavenly Cakes Billionaires Cakes
'Belgian milk chocolate brownies, covered with rich caramel & Belgian milk chocolate with white chocolate drops' ... just look at the photo, need I say anymore?
Time for the big one!!! Like many of you, I had great difficulty picking my 'Best Overall Product 2010'. Looking back across the year I was tempted to go for so many. Heavenly Cakes were by all means a complete revelation for the site this year, as were several of the Galler offerings that I tried. Other products of note were of course the Ritter Sport Espresso, Hotel Chocolat's The Sleekster Classic Christmas Selection, L'Artisan du Chocolat No.1 Sea Salted Caramels .... trust me the list could go on forever and I will no doubt have missed something out.
The winner of the award this year has to go to a product that I think represents the tablestakes of ChocolateMission - pure chocolate that can be appreciated by the masses. My 'Best Overall Product 2010' award goes to ... *drumroll* ...
...
..
.
Galler Heritage Lait Pleine Saveur
This may surprise a few, but I genuinely thought this was an outstanding product. In my review I said: "milk chocolate simply doesn't get much better than this Galler Heritage Lait Pleine Saveur .... one of the tastiest milk chocolates I have ever reviewed". Having bought it again several times since I still firmly stand by those judgements and I cant recommend it enough to anyone who has an appreciation for finer chocolates. Congratulations to Galler - Bring on 2011!!
So there you have it guys and girls, the awards are dished out for another year. Please feel free to share any thoughts or opinions on the winners, the ones I missed out etc etc. Your feedback is always very welcome.
Posts
72 comments:
Wicked I forgot these were up today.
I think you have picked the winners very wisely mate. I didn't pick any of the readers awards that got picked out, but I think that is because my taste is quite unique and I picked some of your dark chocolate reviews.
Good stuff Jim. Well done.
Congratulations to Galler for a well deserved award. I thought this was a nailed on Hotel Chocolat thing but I like how you have figured in another manufacture in to your thoughts when giving that one out. Thanks so much Jim, you did a great job putting all these together.
Lol I knew Heavenly Cakes was going to win readers choice. The photos are always so epic, it was so obvious that everyone was going to pick them to win.
When you picked a winner for that competition you ran did you only select from the people who got the readers award correctly? If thats right then I wouldn't have even been in the draw. I picked one of your Pocky reviews.
Well, well! This is a turn up for the books. I didn't expect Galler to win the best product award. Lol I thought that place was reserved for Hotel Chocolat each year :) I also find the readers award a little worrying. I know we were voting for our fave review and not product, but I would have thought people would have voted for things that they would have eaten. I doubt everyone that would have voted would have tried Heavenly Cakes before. I'm not begrudging them their win, they sound like a great company and I hope to try their cakes soon.
Rxxx
I would have named you 101 different reviews before I would have even got close to guessing that Galler bar.
Reading the review again I can see why you picked it though. Well done Galler, I will be trying your chocolate on Jim's recommendation very soon.
p.s. I'm going to buy some le whif now aswell lol.
The best new product was never the Ritter Espresso. How could you give it to that when like 99% of us haven't even seen it. Sorry but that is a moronic award that one. I would have given it to Aero Orange, I can't tell you how long I've waited for it to make its return.
The only one I guessed correctly was the Le Whif one. I had these picked as winners
Best Chocolate - Ritter Coffee
Best New Chocolate - CDM Bliss
Readers Choice - HC Xmas HBox
You did at lease mention a few of them, I wasn't toally inaccurate.
Groovey award ribbons you have there. You should stick them permanently on the reviews when you get the chance.
I'm going to order some Le Whif now just to see if it is as bad as you make out. Lol you giving it that award has only made me more curious about it than I was before.
Awesome post Jim. You have selected a really good selection of winners I think. I like the fact you have chosen non-obvious winners. Its good not seeing the likes of cadbury and mars anywhere near your thoughts. I had Ritter Sport down as winning more than one though, we know how much of a fanboy you are of them ;)
What ever happened to the comp you did for the ritter chocolates? You never announced who won to us.
Well done Galler. Not who I thought would win at all but totally deserved if the review is anything to go by.
I'm so glad that HC's billionaire brownie cake won something. Honest to god I had to mop up pools of drool I was salivating so much when I first read your review. If they really are as nice as they look in that picture then they have to be well worth the award of best misc.
When I get my next payday I will have to invest in some. Lol im sick of just staring at the pictures all the time.
It's good to see that you picked a variety of different winners and didn't overload one make with all the awards. Im sure you must have been half tempted just to give them all to hotel chocolate lol. Them getting just the one is not what I thought was going to happen at all.
I don't even remember that Galler review? How the hell has it wont first prize!???????
No big issue, it just means that I have to find somewhere to buy it now. I can't possibly let bar of the year slip past me.
This may surprise a few, but I genuinely thought this was an outstanding product. In my review I said: "milk chocolate simply doesn't get much better than this Galler Heritage Lait Pleine Saveur .... one of the tastiest milk chocolates I have ever reviewed". Having bought it again several times since I still firmly stand by those judgements and I cant recommend it enough to anyone who has an appreciation for finer chocolates. Congratulations to Galler - Bring on 2011!!
If you were aiming to shock us all I think you did it. This one came right out of left field you cheeky devil. I wont ever presume HC are your undeniable faves again. The rest of them I think are fair. Perhaps the biggest surprise could have been given to the Twix Fino, I never thought we would see a bar like that for Twix.
Im not for one minute saying you have done this but you could blatantly get a company to pay you to win an award. Everyone who reads this site laps up your every single word. You are sitting ona gold mine if you wanted to exploit people.
What happened to Thorntons Jim? They are nowhere to be seen. After they did so well last year I thought they would have at least retained one of their previous gongs. Profits down the pan and now no ChocolateMission awards. What a crying shame.
I can agree on all the awards apart from the worst product one. Didn't you expect the Whif inhalers to be pants before you tried them?
If we are talking disappointments you can't look past the new Kit Kat Senses (caramel one!!!) Man that one was so rubbish. I bought one and threw it away after two bites. It was so so bad.
Great awards Jim. You picked worthy winners apart from that one.
ROFL @ Le Whif
If its shock and awe you were going for I think you did it right.
Im shocked at Galler winning but I'm in awe at how marvellous it sounds. That has gone right to the top of my list of chocolates to buy now. Do you have a reliable source to buy from Jim?
You try chocolates of all different flavours, from different countries and prices and you end up picking just a plain milk chocolate bar. That is ......................... so cool :P I think you give us a good perspective there. These companies can add or take anything they want. Sometimes the simple stuff is the best.
Cadburys don't even get a mention. Whats going on? Spotsvstripes should have won something.
Over 1000 votes? Are you kidding me? No wonder I didn't bloody win anythinng.
Big props Galler, it sounds like you deserved to win.
Never mind you lot saying your surprised by the winners. I can't believe you didn't give Nestle the worst product ever prize. it was a perfect chance to get a cheap dig at nestle and you didn't take it. Surprising that, unlike you.
I wish I could verify some of these winners but I'm afraid I have tried very few of them.
Now you have uber recommended them I will ensure I really make an effort to buy them. That galler milk chocolate is top of the list now.
Thanks Jim.
You should make sure you let the winners of these awards know that they have won. How amazing would it be to see a Jim's Chocolate Mission award sticker on one of their wrappers.
Lol that would be the most surreal thing ever.
Two days in a row you are going to have made me late for work now :P Your posts are getting so long but I can never stop reading them :P :O Great stuff Jimbo.
The award banner things you created for this year are well cool. Did you design them yourself?
BTW I would have given product of the year to the Hotel Chocolat Banoffee slab. I remember when I first saw that I just had to get one.
Hi Jim
No way! A chocolate bar with bacon winning an award just isn't right. Are these awards given thoroughly from your perspective Jim or did you get some extra help in to help you chose?
I think next year you should get a panel of your most committed followers and let them help you choose. Lol I post everyday so I must be in with a shout if you do that.
Top post lad. It was a really great read. Cheers
N
Next time it might be an idea to hand out prizes to people we have heard of!
Who the f**** are galler man?
Yay I so totally got the readers choice right :-) :-) I voted the billionaires cake. I also voted for the Jim's American Bar Chocri thing. That was such a funny review with the bacon. You should do more of them it's been ages since you have.
I would have given new product of the year to the cadburys bar of plenty toffee apple if I were you. I can't stop buying those bloody bars, its totally unique to anything else we ever got.
The bacon Zotter thing winning makes sense, especially after you made that disgusting chocri one where you said you wouldn't eat bacon and chocolate again.
Like some of the other guys are saying I to was shocked by Galler taking home the bacon (lol pun). I was sure it was going to be that HC Christmas selection.
I didn't even give galler a single thought when I was choosing the reader award. I wish I had of done. Some of the reviews you did were amaze. The pistachio white chocolate is one of the ones that stood out for me. That and the one with the chunky biscuit running down the mid.
Haha I remember that stupid "le whif" thing. Would you say the Galler chocolate is better than HC milk choc, Jim?
I voted for the Marathon flapjack so it's nice to see it get a mention...I really really must try it, it looks delicious. Oh and the Billionaire's cake looks even better.
Yay for awards! I actually think all of them are spot on :) except the espresso bar was a surprise, probably since I rarely drink coffee the original review didn't strike me. The only thing I miss a little from last year is the suspense of dragging it out across several days.
@Rachel actually I haven't tried anything I voted for, including the Billionaires Cakes :) My favorite review of all was the brilliant HC Rose & Violet Cremes one, but I probably won't try them.
@Chris I love the reviews best, but I think the forum the site opens up can't be underestimated as a balance in terms of influence. Like I finally tried Cadbury's Koko truffles the other day because of a reader's comment.
@Nigel I'm with you on the panel, it also needs leftover samples to help us decide, yes?
LMAO at le whif. I hadn't see your review of that before. They sound disgusting.
I didn't choose any of the people who won but I can agree with you about all of them. Did you make the call badges btw? I think that is a well good idea by Ryan to put them on the reviews from now. It makes them look uber special.
You should have given a minimum of one award to the bigger brand chocolates if you ask me.
It's all good seeing makes like Galler get a bit of glory but you should have aknowledged the contribution that the other 99% of us have to put up with on a daily basis.
One of the best bars of the year that by my reckoning was the Cadburys Bliss. I wasn't expecting that to be good at all but it was loads better than I thought it would be. I buy at least one every week.
Awesome post Jim.
Well done to all the winners.
What a great selction of award winners! I was v excited to read that Heavenly Cakes Billionaires Cakes won as I've tried them (on your recommendation!) & they truly are amazingly delicious! I voted for the Marathon Flapjack which looks & sounds divine but haven't been lucky enough to try 'em yet! Any chance of Heavenly Cakes giving us JCM fans another discount stint so that we can indulge in their award winning cakes?? ;) Must also get my mitts on some Galler now for sure - where's easiest to find it in London Jim? Thanks for the post dude - I really enjoyed it :) x
A great set of awards! :) and as others have said I love the banners, and the slightly different CM logo at the top!
there must have been so many bars to choose from, but I think you have choosen well, even if I'll probably never be able to try some of them lol. I wonder if it wouldve have been worth having an extra catergory/ies for the more mainstream brands next year so the likes of the DM Bliss have a catergory they could slip into rarther than competing against the more independant brands tc. Just a thought :)
Jim how could you overlook the Hotel Chocolat hot chocolates? They looked mint. I would have given then biggest surprise award.
They all look like worthy winners to me. I've drooled over every Heavenly cakes review..and I think I will finally put in the online order for some zotter bars!
I cant say much more other than
AMAZING awards
AMAZING photos
AMAZING words
AMAZING chocolate
Well done Jim, you should feel so proud of this.
Yay for Galler and Zotter :D Not exactly the bars I'd have chosen, but both have more than one gem in their ranges.
Yes, that means I got my Zotter bars last evening. Horribly expensive. Tried the Cinnamon-Apple + Honey and the Walnut + Marzipan (that's rum-soaked marzipan :D ). Both in dark chocolate. The honey and especially the walnut are difficult to detect, because the other elements dominate. So not exactly what they promise on the wrapper, but still... the overall taste is pure delight in both cases. My taste buds loved it. When it comes to bars where the filling dominates, these are #1. The Honey Trio and the Almond Grappa Raisin are next :D
Heavenly cakes have got to be pleased with two awards. You could argue that they are the main winners this year considering they got two awards.
I would never in a million years have guessed you would give the award you did to Galler but I can see why they justify the win.
I think its great you have given the best overall prize to a pure chocolate bar. It would have been cool if heavenly cakes had won but it would have been too weired if you had given a cake the winning prize.
Thanks for the awards Jim. You did a nice job with them.
Someone needs to get a room with Heavenly Cakes :P
I love how all the people that leave rude comments hide behind anonymous guises.
@Alex Get the obsession out your head you pillock. Leave us all alone for goodness sake.
@Phil Jim must think Galler milk chocolate is better. He gave them a better score if you look at his review of the HC 40% milk choc.
How did you pick out the products for the awards? Was it based on the scores you gave or did you think about them a bit more than that?
I don't want to tell you what you should have done because you have done a good job, I just hope you applied some logic to your picks though and didn't just choose everything based on scores.
@Peter Lmao that is such a good point you make. Its typical that Jim reviews all those mental japanese things and flavours and then he goes and picks just a plain milk choc as his winner. Its clever isn't it. Lol that guy knows what he is doing :-)
You didn't reward a few of my favourites but I think you have done a decent job overall.
The Galler is a far more credible winner than the wispa gold from last year.
How did the hotel choolat gianduja get overlooked? I would rate that top of the pile. Either that or heavenly cakes.
Did you not include things like truffles in your awards? I would have thought there would have been a few truffle things like Hotel Chocolat Eten Mess that might have made a dent have nipped in with a cheeky win. Obviously not. Top reviews Jim, you did a very good job covering a full spectrum of brands.
It would have been nicer to have seen some more mainstream people win. It cool that ritter, HC, Heavenly and Galler have won stuff but lets face it, for us Brits none of them are like easy to buy.
Next time you do awards you should make one called 'Best Mainstream Chocolate' so that the people like nestle, mars and cadburys at least get a chance of winning something.
Just for the record if it were up to me I would have given the prize of best new product to the twix fino and best product to the dairy milk bliss. I thought both of those were fantastic and I have bought them loads of times since they came out.
I didn't even give galler a single thought when I was choosing the reader award. I wish I had of done. Some of the reviews you did were amaze. The pistachio white chocolate is one of the ones that stood out for me. That and the one with the chunky biscuit running down the mid.
I had the Nestle dairy box winning worse product of the year hands down. That was the worst chocolate thing I tried last year anyway. Like your review so accurately said, they all tasted exactly the same. I don't think I have ever been so disappointed with a box of chocolates in my life.
Now I just stick to buying high quality goods like Thorntons and Hotel chocolate.
Congrats for making such a wonderful website. If anyone should be getting an award it should be you Jim. I wont disagree with you on any of your picks. You must know exactly what you are talking about with all your chocolate experiences lol.
I hope you continue to do the hot chocolate reviews. They have added a new dimension of interest for me. Its not all about chocolate bars is it!
Cripes that brownie cake thing looks insane. Where do I get me one of them?
BTW it was so obvious you were going to pick a coffee choc to get an award ;P that was just as inevitable as the Hotel Chocolat award lol.
How did heavenly cakes not get the prize for best overall product?
Their billionaires cakes are the best in the world.
Recount! Recount! Recount! Recount!
Great picks Jim I wouldn't disagree with a single one of them. Out of interest how many times have you eaten that Galler bar?
Is it one you buy loads or is it just one you have had only the one time?
Like a few of the others say, the fact you have rated the Le Whif things so poorly and given it the award for worse in 2010 sorta makes me want to try it to see if its really that bad. In an underhand way you could be doing them a favour lol.
You should sell Heavenly Cakes on your website.
These were even better than lasts years congrats mate.
The winners are spot on if you ask me.
I haven't tried a lot of the winners you picked out but that only gives me even greater motivation to try them.
I think last year when you did one award per day was better but the graphic work for the awards is a millions times cooler. Imagine seeing someone like galler but your logo of yours' on the front saying product of the year 2010. Lol that would be the most surreal thing ever.
When will you decide who wins the ritter twitter competition?
Forget 2010 I'm already eyeing up the contenders for this years awards. There have been so many new chocolates already you got to think that one is going to be ultra competitive.
Product of the year so far has to be the hotel chocolat hot chocolates I think. Do they qualify for that one though? confused :S :S
Jim when are we getting more heavenly cakes reviews? Are they going to be making any more kinds of cake soon or are they sticking to what they have?
Give us the gossip love.
Rxxx
HI All,
Thank you for such wonderful comments, I have enjoyed reading them all and seeing what you guys make of the winners and who you think should've won/where you agree with me.
I wont attempt to answer all 70 odd of you individually but I can answer some more of the common questions ....
* The awards weren't given out just going by their score. There was some sense of subjectivity in there in regards to who I thought deserved it most.
* The winning entry for the 'readers choice' competition was picked weeks ago and announced during 7Days of Chocolate Reviews.
* Why did 'brand x' not win? .... Because I thought someone else was more deserving :D
* The award banners were designed by a friend of mine. If you want their details for some graphic design work please contact me.
* There have been a few good suggestions for next year such as the posting of the awards over a few days, and the introduction of a best 'mainstream' award. I will review this all when the time is right next year .... who knows what will happen before all that :D
* There a few queries about the Galler bar, I've had it several times myself and bought it several times for gifting. I genuinely think it is one of the best milk chocolates around. As far as I know Galler can be bought online from various sites (I will levae your googling to that!!) It can also be found in the likes of Harrods and Selfridges in London.
* The cut off for products to make it in to the awards was from Jan 1st 2010 to Dec 31st 2010 ...thus the Hotel Chocolat hot chocolates weren't applicable.
Many, many apologies if I have missed your question out. I really do value all your contributions. Please make sure that 2011 is equally well inputted in to.
If your enquiry is burning then please drop me an e-mail with your thoughts. The winner of this weekends twitter comprtition will be announced tonight.
Now, get yourself geared up for next weeks reviews :D no let up in the pace eh!?
JIM
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