Bonnat obviously knows what kind of chocolate they’re dealing with and has produced a fine looking slab free of blemishes or other defects. Color, also, is brilliant and definitively red, with a fairly bright tint that adds zest and liveliness, totally befitting this varietal. The aroma is unmistakably Chuao as well but slightly mild overall with molasses clearly defining its character as plums and vanilla balance the piquancy.
Initially strong and black, acrid and pungent like blackstrap, but also highly red and fruity like plums, the opening flavor is multifarious and mixed, displaying a hodgepodge of Chuao’s characteristic flavors. Blueberries follow, then blackberries and a resurgence of plums, but the underlying theme that defines the chocolate is black and acrid, which snowballs as the length progresses, but never seems out of place. But the molasses is not as strong as Amedei’s. No, Bonnat has brought out more of the fruitier elements and allowed them to shine brightly rather than fade against a backdrop of molasses and raisins.
Texture even proves to be Bonnat’s best and melts with an exemplary smoothness not typically found among the rest of the line. Indeed, Bonnat is on their best behavior with Chuao.
Considering Amedei’s “”exclusivity”" to Chuao, Bonnat’s version is remarkably on par with the characterisitc flavors of the region. However, what sets Bonnat apart is the greater emphasis on fruitiness, which seems all the more noticeable here than in Amedei’s version. Regardless of whether or not this bar was actually produced from Chuao, or if Bonnat found a loophole that afforded them this moniker and/or cacao, (or if Amedei doesn’t have the “”exclusive rights”" everyone is led to believe) the presentation is so impeccably close to the usual Chuao style one can definitely assume that the “”exclusivity”" issue has been more intricately undermined than previously believed.
