Weinrich Trüffel: Whisky

I am a bit of a whiskey lightweight. I admit that in my younger days I drank my share (and probably some of yours) of whiskey sours, and yes, I did the horrible girly bit of mixing Jack Daniel's with root beer or Dr. Pepper (*facepalm*). I know that the true whiskey fans out there are reading this in horror, and I hang my head in shame.

Nowadays, while I still like the smell of whiskey (or Scotch), it is just a little too strong for me to drink. I dunno what happened to me. I like the idea of this bar because it's a whiskey filled truffle surrounded by milk chocolate.



As I've observed in a review of Weinrich's Marc de Champagne bar, I would again like to point out how beautifully molded these bars are. The chocolate is glossy and it made me think of an edible Art Deco tile.



You can really smell the whiskey in this bar -- even before you break a piece off. It's a woodsy, nutty, boozy scent, in all the best meanings of the words.

One of the bar's big selling points for me is that the filling is indeed a truffle-type consistency, rather than being filled with a syrupy liquid. I am a big fan of alcohol-flavored chocolates. I just tend to not enjoy versions that are liquid-filled, because they often taste only like some half-assed version of whatever it is supposed to be -- or worse, they have that fake Star Trek "synthahol" flavoring that makes them taste more like edible lighter fluid. The filling in this bar avoids all of those pitfalls.

The Weinrich filling has a very rich, almost ganache texture. It's super smooth on the tongue and is a deep glossy brown. The flavor is all classic whiskey. You can almost imagine that you are in a mahogany-panelled salon with stodgy old men in huge leather wing chairs, puffing on cigars while sipping single malts and complaining about what doofuses their daughters ended up marrying.



The flavor of the whiskey is strong -- but what keeps it from being too much, even for a whiskey wimp like me, is the chocolate. The milk chocolate is sweet and has strong milky notes to it. It melts with a little grain that goes great with the smoothness of the filling (on its own, it would be on the throat-burning side). There's not a lot of snap, but the melt is fast.

I really liked this bar! I'll leave the actual Laphroaig to Chris (it's one of his favorite Scotches), but this bar made me very, very happy.



PURCHASED FROM:
The German Deli (Upland, California)

PRICE:
$3.10

CALORIES:
Not available

ADDITIONAL INFO:
May contain traces of wheat and nuts. Contains real whiskey.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
weinrich-schokolade.de

Vivani Dark Chocolate with Orange

Not only is this dark chocolate with orange, but it's dark chocolate with orange and it has a fancy-schmancy wrapper with words like "art" and "organic." I feel somehow more sophisticated and spiffy just having the bar in my hand. So, before I hop into my chauffeured Rolls-Royce and start offering mustard to random strangers, let's have some chocolate.



This bar is a 70% dark chocolate and, jokes aside, it is in fact 100% organic.

It is beautifully molded into small bite-sized segments, although the chocolate itself is on the dull side. The chocolate smells spicy but I didn't get a whiff of the orange at all. Breaking into the bar, there is some fantastic snap going on. The way you can bite the chocolate cleanly into nice little bits gets addictive. (If you are the type that likes to crunch ice, this is like the chocolate version.)



You may not smell the orange, but you certainly can taste it! The wrapper says the bar contains essential orange oil, and it does remind me of candied orange rind. The orange is subtle but it is very natural. I would have liked for it to be stronger, because it's such a good flavor.

The chocolate is spicy, there are some woodsy, cinnamony notes. It has a very earthy taste. The finishing notes are coffeelike.



What I normally don't like about organic chocolate is the texture. Vivani does a nice job with this as well. It's a little on the dry side -- but again, it is a pretty dark chocolate. The melt is very smooth. It's not creamy, but it wouldn't be with a chocolate this dark. I have a feeling this bar would be good to bake with or to shave over other items.

Yes, I liked this bar. Can you tell?



PURCHASED FROM:
Sample from company

Weinrich Trüffel: Marc de Champagne

Whilst browsing in my local German deli, I came across a collection of Weinrich Trüffel bars, all filled with a variety of liquors and liqueurs -- so naturally I had to buy them.

I opted to start with the Marc de Champagne bar because I have a slight addiction to Champagne truffles. But what exactly is Marc de Champagne? Well, it's a brandy-like liquor that is distilled from the seeds and skins of the grapes used in Champagne production...sort of the hot dog of the Champagne world, if you will. I admit I have never tried it. But if it has any Champagne notes to it -- as grape based, distilled liquors such as brandy, Cognac, etc often bear a faint family resemblance to the wines they are derived from -- I expect I would like it. And I always seem to forget how much I like Champagne or sparkling wine until I actually have a glass (which is not that often). Also, there is something about Champagne mixed with chocolate that really raises my bubbles. Incidentally, I did not inherit my love of the "Champers" from my parents...

...One Thanksgiving, my brother and I were especially mortified by our father; in that special way that only siblings can share. That night, we'd gone to the fanciest-schmanciest restaurant in our 'hood. It's a restaurant that is widely known for its extensive wine cellar. And when the wine steward inquired as to my father's choice for the table, he was rather horrified when my father chose to lecture him on why the place should carry Martini & Rossi Asti Spumante! Now to be fair, it's not that there's anything particularly wrong with M&R's Asti. It's decent stuff. It's just that in this case, it was like walking into Peter Luger's (or even Ruth's Chris) and telling them they should serve the sirloin just like they do down at the Sizzler. Yeah, just another one of those times when it's so close, yet so far away... anyway, magical holiday family fun aside...



The Weinrich Trüffel has a milk chocolate shell that encases the truffle filling. Taking the chocolate out of the wrapper, you immediately notice an aroma that I could best describe as "boozy." But, it is a Marc de Champagne truffle after all, so let's call that a good thing.



The smooth outer shell is thin and the center truffle filling is a soft creme. The actual flavor of the truffle reminded me more of Turkish delight than Champagne or anything related to it. There is a soft, sweet rose note -- not as strong as in Turkish delight, but very similar. There is also definite fruit flavor in the background. I want to say it's grape...mostly because my brain is still trying to pin down something Champagne-like being the source of the flavor. But in reality, the best I can tell you is that it's fruity. The filling is sweet, but magically it never gets too sweet. There is just the tiniest amount of alcohol bitterness (whether it's actually alcohol, I don't know -- the label lists both Champagne and Marc de Champagne as flavors, but leaves it at that). It's actually the perfect amount, because it just keeps everything in check. And it was fantastic. I want vats of this filling. I want to put it on everything.



The milk chocolate that the bar is molded with is soft and melty, but held the molded design beautifully. (And did I mention how pretty the molding is? It really is a very nice looking bar.) It's creamy and you can taste the generous amount of dairy in the chocolate. On its own it might be a little bland, but it pairs with the truffle filling perfectly.

It's hard to rate this one. On the one hand, it didn't remind me of a Champagne truffle in the least. On the other hand, the filling is just so darned delicious that they could have called it Gebeizt Seife Trüffel and it would still taste great. (I will save you the Googling; that means "Pickled Soap Truffle.") It kind of goes against my standards in a way, but I am still scoring this one an 11 -- because even though it does not taste of anything akin to Champagne, it is still 17 kinds of awesome. Maybe even 18. Or maybe more than I could count.

Find it. Buy it. Eat it. You will be very glad you did.




PURCHASED FROM:
The German Deli (Upland, California)