Color:	light brown w/ sienna cast
Surface:	plated finish contrasts corner pinholes in the mold
Temper:	polished but w/ plastic-wrapper transfer for a fuzzy mix
Snap:	a monster breaking bricks

fat chocolate brownie races out the pouch... identifiable but light roast of toasted bread + breadfruit -> green fruit (grape & under-ripe banana / mango) -> starfruit / lime -> rubber butter bounces against olives -> tobacco steams out alcohol vapors

Texture:	butter on suede
Melt:	cool melt, almost quaffable

grating green grape -> cranberry spread atop breadfruit (sensational) -> airy chocolate drops in a Milk Chocolate mirage (Criollo already) -> pointed loquat finger -> background lime & lychee suffuses gin tonic -> once butter melts thru, rest of the aromas transfers more fully, & all the high notes pulled down & in to oud-spiked chocolate-walnut rolled in cinnamon -> goes clear again on langsat syrup (basically the lychee vaporized thru that gin) -> ended on all-blended w/ a sweet-spot chocolate send-off

When this bar was first released years ago, it should’ve come with a road-sign: Under Construction... Work Zone Ahead.... technically good yet nothing special & close to bordering bland. Components all registered back then, but flavors washed out aquarelle (apparitions of tangerine & lime to kumquat -> sour white grape before unripe green tones) & general execution felt programmatic, studious, as if from a formula manual.

Fast-forward a few seasons & this ranks among Soma’s more assiduously crafted bars: precision roast & highly calibrated conche.

And where Madagascars often go wanting (e.g., Patric’s top-heavy models), that 3rd movement - when the progression here pulls down - adds depth & body; a welcome counterpoint to the brassy citric racket that could just as easily split tongues & slit throats, leaving the accident victim bleeding in acid.

ING: cocoa mass, sugar, cacáo butter

Reviewed 8/22/09