Box Chocolate Review

La Maison du Chocolat (NYC)

Info Details
Country USA   (NYC)
Style Classic      
lo
med
hi
CQ
Sweetness
Intensity
Complexity
Impact

La Maison du Chocolat (LMDC), owned by the esteemed Robert Linxe, is venerated for being at or near the pinnacle of boxed chocolate. That self-anointed premiere tasting-club in the world - The Croqueurs of Paris - declare him non-pareil.

His parlor in Manhattan sits on Madison Ave. A curious place – extremely refined design – but the store doesn’t smell like chocolate. LMDC-NYC delivers quality, in some cases very good &, in a few others, exceptional. But the 5-star, made-in-heaven, serious-nirvana accolades makes one wonder whether chocolate, like particular violins, travel poorly across the Atlantic, or if the Croqs are just a little too ‘ooo-la-la’ about themselves. Either way, the taste-facts are indisputable: LMDC-NYC is French for ‘house-of-cards’.

Hype wins out, as reputation exceeds performance. Flavors tend to stack & stratify in weak verticals, especially berry notes which come ashore in diluted waves. Ditto coffee/mocha combinations, which build slowly into heightening mysteries before dissipating any inner secrets. The total effect: a phantom-in-the-candy-store, an occasional outline with no viscera; finesse without power, a pillowy fade-out, then vacant elegance.

The French are world-famous for perfumes, bouquets, & interrelations rather than things in-&-of themselves. Lest you think LMDC-NYC fits that tradition, ala a dauphin appearing majestic at the expense of someone else’s heroics (la mode Francaise), consider the possibility that LMDC-Paris reportedly flash-freezes their pieces prior to shipping to NY.

Buy a plane ticket, or use your miles, & go directly to where the HQ produces super-subtle, teasing balances fully in frame.

Ahhh, pure Bacchus.

FULL REVIEW UNWARRANTED
Presentation   -- / 5
Aromas   -- / 5
Textures/Melt   -- / 10
Shells:
Centers:
Flavor   -- / 50
Quality   -- / 30
Selections
Couverture:

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