The aroma is fairly plain and simple, not too complex in character but indulgently satisfying with its in-your-face chocolatiness. It’s somewhat earthy, though, with head notes of tobacco and woody cinnamon. With such an aroma, it’s no surprise that the color practically imitates it by bearing a shade that one could simply call chocolate. It’s a medium brown color with a tarnished look, similar to unshined copper.
Some earthiness arrives, then tobacco and soft cinnamon, but quickly materializing after this brief flash of flavor is a beautiful chocolatiness that’s best described as brown and clean, not intense or near black like so many other bars. Unassuming and effacing all other expectations of complexity, the flavor is pure chocolate, which is somewhat calm and never hollering in your face. Here is a dignified sensation, one that impresses with its subtlety and sophistication. This, my friends, is a gentleman’s chocolate. Quaint, simple, but oh so glorious.
The texture is also very accommodating but better yet, it’s smooth as silk, the archetypal consistency for the Cluizel name since the variances of origins are not highlighted here. Essentially, this is a chocolate the “”purist”" should revel in; one that even the most timid palate would embrace; and finally, one the competition should fear. If words fail you when trying to convey the experience of this chocolate, then consider this interlude of silence your answer. Indeed, it is truly breathtaking.
