Merci Chocolate Assortment – Review

Storck has had a pretty decent track record on my site. Their Toffifay got an OMG (and an awesomely addictive candy award from Candy Addict), and their Reisen got my highest honor of a ZOMG! So how would their Merci “finest assortment of European chocolates” fare?

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I was impressed by the packaging of these chocolates. They’re pretty cheap, and they’re not lavishly packaged, but they still look nice. The outer box is kindly perforated to reveal two neat rows of Merci chocolate within.

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The bars themselves are also not fancily wrapped – just cellophane with a light gold paper – but the half and half contrast and the color-coordinated bars and script identifying the bar flavors are a lovely touch that make the candies seem that much more upscale. I bought a box and split it up to put in goody bags for friends.

What are the Merci Chocolate flavors here and how do they taste?

The bars come in seven different flavors. You can read the manufacturer’s description of each at Walgreen’s website. And/or you can read my review of six of those flavors (I somehow managed to not leave myself a milk chocolate one for tasting).

Hazelnut creme has a light hazelnut flavor that was unfortunately overpowered by a musty aftertaste. The aftertaste I blame on myself, however, as I tasted them a few months after their sell-by date. The praline tasted much like the hazelnut creme (mustiness and all), but with creamier chocolate.

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Thankfully, the flavors of the remaining five were strong enough to resist being overtaken by any mustiness. Hazelnut-almond was chock full of tiny bits of almonds and hazelnuts that imparted not only a great nuttiness but also a nice crunch. The dark mousse was a dark layer of chocolate coating a softer, lighter truffled inside. The outer layer had a dry snap while the inner truffle had an almost greasy melt. Good cacao flavor throughout.

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The dark cream was lighter in color than the dark mousse, and, as far as I could tell, was just a solid, mildly dark chocolate bar. There was nothing wrong with the dark cream, per se, but it lacked any interesting flavor profile.

Coffee and cream was my favorite of the bunch. It had a dry snap and melt with a strong coffee flavor but no corresponding coffee bitterness. It tasted like fresh ground coffee smells. And it looked pretty, with a super dark top layer atop a white chocolate strip for the cream.

The conclusion?

Overall, I give the assortment an OM. I highly recommend buying a box, giving away the less stellar ones, and hoarding the coffee and creams for yourself.

Try them for yourself here: