La Victoria Estate
by Michael Dunn
Impact
Another choc maker. Another Ecuador. Another bar.
Unlike (most) others.
For those with theobromine thalassophobia (google 'em, kwik brains).
Unlike (most) others.
For those with theobromine thalassophobia (google 'em, kwik brains).
Appearance 3.8 / 5
| Color: | suspiciously brown (none of the customary purple Ecuadorian rays) |
| Surface: | a li'l worse for all the road wear (from South to North America) |
| Temper: | dark glass |
| Snap: | closed tight |
Aroma 8.6 / 10
extra-dry cocoa tannins gives off deep, abiding chocolate with subsoil forestry... malting on top... comes back nuts & cinders
Mouthfeel 12.4 / 15
| Texture: | gum pudding |
| Melt: | take a seat in the waiting room |
Flavor 45 / 50
WYS&SIWYG (what you see & smell is what you get) & the some...
brown sugar / brown spice -> flint roast -> nuts, mainly almonds -> coffee -> cocoa caramel -> all-spice bread -> nutmeg -> bahri date -> evasive raisin
brown sugar / brown spice -> flint roast -> nuts, mainly almonds -> coffee -> cocoa caramel -> all-spice bread -> nutmeg -> bahri date -> evasive raisin
Quality 17.5 / 20
Long melt / long taste (lecithin enables some of the FXs).
Sweet, of course, at over one-third sugar + a cocoa butter pad. Still plays fairly dark for all that. A composite less redolent of Ecuador & more along the lines of Venezuela-meets-Ghana.
From the ground to the clouds, so much brown going on. Brown fruit / brown spice / brown nuts (cocoa included). The Maillard Reactions & Strecker Degradations having their day, their way.
A big brown-out in the sea of theobromine.
Michael Dunn it.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin
Reviewed January 30, 2018
Sweet, of course, at over one-third sugar + a cocoa butter pad. Still plays fairly dark for all that. A composite less redolent of Ecuador & more along the lines of Venezuela-meets-Ghana.
From the ground to the clouds, so much brown going on. Brown fruit / brown spice / brown nuts (cocoa included). The Maillard Reactions & Strecker Degradations having their day, their way.
A big brown-out in the sea of theobromine.
Michael Dunn it.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin
Reviewed January 30, 2018