Thorntons Hazelnut & Raisin

Another Thornton’s block has arrived on my doorstep. Sometimes I think these things are breeding and attempting to take over the world, the range is so big.

This one is a 32% Madagascan milk chocolate with hazelnut & raisin in a funky looking purple box. It’s your basic fruit & nut, and as you can see it comes in the now familiar Thornton’s square-block-with-odd-shaped-chunks format.

Now I’m not the world’s greatest fruit & nut fan – it’s not something I actively seek out when looking for exciting new chocolates to try – but I managed to polish this one off in no time flat.

The pieces of raisin and hazelnut are just the right size to give a nice chunky, chewy texture to the bar and although the nuts don’t taste of much, the raisins are full of flavour. The Madagascan milk chocolate is perfect here, with the natural fruity notes just enhancing the overall flavour of the bar. I’d pick this one over Cadbury’s old favourite in a flash.

I don’t think I’d buy this myself, simply because there are much more exciting offerings in the range. We get sent samples regularly, but I still pick up a block of three from this range each time I’m passing the local Throntons. The Tonka and Venezuela blocks for instance are exceptional quality and value for money. This one – while certainly above average – just doesn’t quite cut the mustard when surrounded by its award winning siblings.

One thing I would certainly buy is a new – as yet unreleased – block that Keith Hurdman showed us at Chocolate Unwrapped last weekend. Another Madagascan milk chocolate, but this time with salted pistachios. The flavour and saltiness of the pistachios worked much better with the fruity, sweet milk chocolate. But I guess you’ll just have to wait until that comes out for the review…

You might also like...