Oh no!! Very sadly (for me) it's the final four chocolates from the Leonidas Dark Chocolate Assortment Box. Part One, Two and Three have to be some of the tastiest chocolates I've eaten and this is certainly the best box of chocolates I've had in a very long time.
I know my normal modus operandi is to eat worst to best but I couldn't help myself with the chocolates in part three so I was left with four that while I knew they'd be good, if I had to share some, would probably have been the four I'd give up.
I Love You
Awww, I love you too Leonidas! I'm not sure what lemon, a normally quite sharp and bitter taste has to do with love but what do I know? If you're up to date with my Leonidas posts you'll know citrus flavours aren't usually my cup of tea but Leonidas aren't playing by my rules so far.
It seems I might not have left the worst, in fact this could be one of the best! I did not expect to taste a delicious sweet lemon, I'd assumed a sharp tart flavour but it wasn't at all. The sweet fruity flavour was the perfect accompaniment to the rich dark chocolate.
Tosca
As well as citrus flavours, I usually eat around the alcoholic ones too. Way back in part one there was a rum filled chocolate which I loved although there have been a few since then with the familiar harsh alcohol flavour I'm not too keen on.
The chocolate casing seemed thicker than of late and was just as good as ever, a nice strong flavour until the Brandy kicked in. Wow, it's strong although maybe a little too authentic for me. It's very tasty and it's not that I disliked it, its just so... 'real' tasting that I think it'd need a proper Brandy fan to truly appreciate it.
Mosaique
Cranberry is a fruit I shy away from, not because of a dislike but because it makes me think of things that do not need to be written about on a food blog thank you very much!
The crispy praline is wonderful, a soft thick filling with crisp crunchy pieces dotted throughout. The flavours were good too, it tasted a lot sweeter overall than the vast majority of the other chocolates. One negative (or positive depending on where you stand) is that the flavour all came from the sweetened praline, not due to any cranberry. To tell you the truth I couldn't see, let alone taste any cranberry pieces but regardless it was good.
Cerise Emballee
The very last chocolate in my whole box is the only wrapped one.
I usually prefer my cherry to be of the sour variety, covered in sugar and in gummy form but I'll eat it in chocolate, if I have to... The attention to detail in the whole box has been lovely, from chocolates shaped like coffee beans to Greek characters embossed on top, they've thought of it all and the very last is the cherry on top...
..Literally! I can't go any further without saying, just look at that! If you read the description on the menu you might be thinking "that doesn't look like cherry liqueur cream?" And you'd be right, because I ate it. It was nice but nothing compared to what you can see above.
The runny, sweet juices came from the whole Morello Cherry sitting nicely inside. Its large, juicy, a little chewy and sweet with the most vibrant cherry flavour. The liqueur cream left a very boozey aftertaste behind, but the good kind and I'll admit - I literally licked the plate clean afterwards. Incredible.
Rating:
What a box of chocolates! There were lots of flavours I assumed I'd hate and some I thought I'd love. Some I was on the money and others surprised me but what I can say about every single chocolate is that what really shines through is the quality of the ingredients. Even if it was a flavour I normally hate, there was no denying the stuff's good.
It's my birthday in a few months Mr.1T - I'll try the milk next time please!!
9/10
