Impact
When it doubt, fry it. Slitti must've been listening to Elton's Burn Down the Mission while working this bar. Just burns it to the ground.
Appearance 5 / 5
imposing & intimidating, yet another beauty bar so rich in oils you could wash your hands w/ it
imposing & intimidating, yet another beauty bar so rich in oils you could wash your hands w/ it
Color: | ebony & mahogany hardwoods |
Surface: | perfect impression panels like Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise |
Temper: | oil-stained polish |
Snap: | crisp as breaking a branch over the knee; super straight & smooth edge |
Aroma 9.6 / 10
bonoxious / aromatically gifted - can practically smell its look: raspberry-rubbed mahogany towers over & around coco butter absorbing a penetrating dried cocoa -> brazil & hazelnut oils on the rubdown (gianduja-like)
Mouthfeel 11.8 / 15
Texture: | fractured |
Melt: | cures itself into felt fabric but w/ an astringent lining |
Flavor 27.1 / 50
unpacks soft cocoa -> immediately wood bitters down where nuts come up (filberts) -> runs into a groundswell of a fungus-fortress built on flat cocoa caused by burnt tannins... eventually generating ash & soot & bottomless fear -> butter builds unsuccessful firewall ala pasti-on-the-palate maneuver characteristic of Domori's (much) better high-% bars -> resurgence of hazelnut & a mere rumor of raspberry promised in the aroma never really shows -> closes on nut oils (brazil, filbert, & even a little pistachio); dry brownie aftermath
Quality 8.3 / 20
A misnomer to begin with, as botanically & geographically Venzy cacáo belongs mostly to Caribia (the region encompassing Central America, Caribbean islands & Northern Coast of South America). A misfire to finish it, as any hope that this would rival Valrhona's vaunted Araguani are scorched in a roast that just burns aromatics at the stake, establishing regressive baseline tannins for no other purpose than taking all that carbon & making nuts instead of diamonds, leaving a smoldering bitterness, deprived & depraved, without counterbalancing acids. The net effect is classically angular, exacerbated by astringent grip.