Michel Cluizel Dark Chocolate Orange Peels 63% Cacao

About:  Michel Cluizel is a 3rd generation chocolate maker in Damville, Normandy (that's in France, dum dum). Third generation sounds better than "since 1948," no? I think so. That's when they started. They claim to ferment their chocolate beans themselves (which, to my understanding, is a bit unusual -- these are often fermented right after being picked). They sell a variety of chocolate confections, including a range of  about 30 different bars with different flavors and cocoa content.

Flavor: Pretty awesome. The orange flavor is strong and the aromas fill the senses and mixed wonderfully with the chocolate. The 63% content means this is a relatively sweet bar - I think the orange peel is crystallized with sugar also. The chocolate itself is fruity and has no trace of bitterness or sourness.

Texture: Nice and creamy, with (do I really need to say?) real orange peels giving a bit of chewiness.

My rating:  Very pleasant. Solid 7. It would be an 8, if I didn't mind the somewhat overly sweet flavor.

Rating Value	Meaning
1	Really bad chocolate. There's something just really really wrong here in almost every imaginable respect.
2	A bar with this rating has at least two drawbacks.
3	A bar where something is starting to get seriously wrong.... for example, really weak flavor with an otherwise acceptable texture.
4	This bar is below average, but just slightly. Mostly it's not worth eating again. Something isn't quite up to par, for example a poor texture but fine flavor.
5	This is an average good bar that's worth eating. There's nothing really wrong with it, but also nothing particularly spectacular. Or, perhaps it has a good characteristic that's evenly counter-weighted by something weak.
6	A solidly good bar with one characteristic that's above par, for example a great texture.
7	An solidly good chocolate that has two above par characteristics, but nothing mind-blowing. Good, above average flavor, but nothing to die for.
8	An excellent bar with no weaknesses and at least one characteristic that's super.
9	An awesome bar to die for with amazing texture and flavor.
10	You have been touched by God.

Back to the list of bars