Felchlin’s Cru Sauvage relabeled in disguise.

Unlike that Alice in Chocoland gimcrack, the marketers of Original Beans at least scrounge around with good sense to say they leave well enough alone instead of accessorizing their bought treasure with cocoa powder. But did they anyway?

This particular bar’s Aroma is darkly more tobaccocoa, raisined, & spiced... slippery elm + coriander (the latter appearing almost as citric bergamot supported by charred oak flooring) which translates into sulking & brooding black tea upfront in the Flavor - a burnt bar really - then swerves onto a lengthy Dutched concourse of sorts (eerily similar to a flat cocoa powder adjunct) lunging toward stringent black currant at the finish. Suspiciously inarticulate & hits of a higher percentage, rare for a bean that traditionally bears greater tolerance, reducing this collectible origin to a K-Mart™ item carrying a Bergdorf's price tag.

All just another reminder that cacáo is a crop that changes with the seasons & each batch ascribes different attributes making any ratings/assessments ephemeral at best.

FULL REVIEW UNWARRANTED

Reviewed April 2010