Lindt Excellence Dark - A Touch of Sea Salt

When I started this blog, I liked Lindt the best. Seven months and nearly a 100 posts later, I still like Lindt the best. What I love about Lindt, as a brand, is their inventiveness with flavours and willingness to push the boundaries. Sure, there are other brands out there that experiment with flavours, but few do it as successfully as Lindt. The last brand I was really impressed by was Elizabeth Shaw, which equalled Lindt's standards of excellence. But brands like Elizabeth Shaw are difficult to find in India, and Lindt has to be the go-to brand when one is seeking truly fine chocolates in India.

Because Lindt is so easy to get in local Indian markets, one can get the most recent flavours released in the international market. I spotted a pack of Lindt Dark chocolate - with A Touch of Sea Salt not long ago and was most fascinated. Yes, chocolates with salted caramel have been around for a while, but I've not seen any other brand with this kind of flavour. A pack was duly bought and brought home. Between reviews, I had to keep this pack in the fridge for a little while, which resulted in a fat bloom (the whitish layer you see on the bar in the pictures), much to my disappointment. Even after I left it out for a while, the lovely dark colour did not return.

But given that the chocolate has only 47% cocoa solids, one shouldn't perhaps expect too dark a colour. But because fat or sugar bloom does not affect the taste of the chocolate, I didn't fret too much. The chocolate has a beautiful rich aroma, although the chocolate is not as rich as its higher cocoa ratio cousins. Left on the tongue, the chocolate melts beautifully, releasing its semi-sweetness and eventually a salty flavour from the salt crystals embedded within.

It's hard to explain how salt and sugar complement each other so nicely, and you had best experience it yourself. That said, I wouldn't rate it as highly as a Lindt Dark Chilli Chocolate or a Lindt Dark Wasabi Chocolate bar. Priced at INR 235 for a 100 g bar, it isn't all that expensive and if good quality dark chocolate is what you want, Lindt is your best bet.

RATING: 3.75/5