Impact
The Higgs (aka ‘God Particle’) Experiment of Chocolate - that phenomenon which puzzled physicists about how particles acquire mass. This bar is a sort of milky way whereby there exists a seemingly-invisible background field that acts like treacle for Rio Caribe cacáo to roll thru on its course toward gaining strength & size that, alas, never really materialize.
Appearance 3.2 / 5
| Color: | pink-tinted tan |
| Surface: | classic El Rey throw-back: cracked, dented, & chipped |
| Temper: | oil slicks |
| Snap: | bass thud; crumbling edge |
Aroma 8.1 / 10
BMX petrol-rubber bounces some rich nuts & spiced caramel off a column of wood; among the least dairy-driven bars in the category... milk clearly subsidiary
Mouthfeel 12.4 / 15
| Texture: | a heavyweight |
| Melt: | skitters in dribs ‘n drabs |
Flavor 40.1 / 50
malted maple candy -> brown-sugar -> mulberry -> caramel apple -> golden-roasted butter cream swirls up a mass of cocoa notes, evolving out to Woody Woodpecker chomping on peanuts & almonds -> Milk Chocolate reserve at the back -> clears out Bosco™, then Snickers™
Quality 15.6 / 20
Sluggish; a strong cacáo in a smothered chocolate... saddled with extra baggage of additives (malt & brown sugar) that weigh the profile down beyond the heaviness of whole milk & vanilla, & this despite a hefty 40% cacáo content (albeit most of it butter, further contributing to the ponderous feel) of a tonally dark varietal. Which all goes to the Halloween trick-or-treat aspect of this bar. The power of Rio Caribe cacáo does punch thru toward the end in a too-little / too-late scenario that keeps it rather particulate, blunting its force & preventing it from becoming massive. El Rey needs to reformulate the ratios & pare down the ingredients in order to let the bean breathe (allowing for its own resident fruits & spices to be drawn out).
ING: sugar, cacáo butter, whole milk powder, cocoa liquor, brown sugar, malt extract, soy lecithin, vanilla; CBS ~3:5:5
ING: sugar, cacáo butter, whole milk powder, cocoa liquor, brown sugar, malt extract, soy lecithin, vanilla; CBS ~3:5:5