Michel Cluizel Grand Noir 85% Dark

                                   

About: Michel Cluizel is a third generation French chocolate manufacturer. They proclaim their dedication to avoid vegetable fat and artificial flavoring, but this seems to me to be 1980s marketing. Today, so many chocolate manufacturers use high quality ingredients, that I'm not sure their claims are so differentiating. Their flavor, though... differentiating.

Flavor:  Solidly excellent. This is a dark, satisfying chocolate with hints of current and a long follow-through. It's slightly bitter, perhaps because of the high cocoa content, with the added vanilla peeking through after the initial fruity chocolate. Although it's bean-to-bar-ish, and although it's an excellent bar, I would not compare it to the fresh flavor of a boutique bean-to-bar chocolate.

Texture: Pleasant with a slightly crunchy onset and a creamy finish. The chocolate will cover your mouth with a silky, smooth finish.

My rating:  A 7 that I wish was an 8. This is great chocolate, but it's missing the strong, fresh flavor of a killer bean-to-bar chocolate.

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.

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