Impact
Appearance 4.4 / 5
| Color: | 60%? Milk? dark brown & rouge |
| Surface: | smooth brush w/ huge swales |
| Temper: | sweats oil |
| Snap: | another Mast Bros specialty, the most patentable Snaps in the biz... bumps up the volume to drub the ear drums off |
Aroma 7.3 / 10
milk drops on a vinyl place mat setting the table for a cocoa breakfast cereal of toasted buckwheat flakes & vanilla + a demi-tasse of latte on the side
Mouthfeel 12.6 / 15
| Texture: | mix of slip & grip |
| Melt: | well staged if a bit staggered |
Flavor 45.4 / 50
chocolate spill canvas... very sweet & complete -> slow milk douses then smoothes the mounting tannins -> smoke trail -> underside of faint toffee -> glories in jujube + mulberry -> allspice -> beautifully blackened milk chocolate ejecting coffee -> wild sorrel & star anise top it off
Quality 18.9 / 20
Phenomenal contrastive balancing act between a subtle interplay of culinary media (milk/sugar/vanilla) & boldly roasted cocoa that’s effectively confected but not a confection. Rarely has dairy been so deftly deployed in the high cacáo-content category (putting it within reach of the class elite: Cuizel, Coppeneur, & Bonnat), rounding off the tannic structure without pulling it into all-out caramelized territory, thanks to a roast that allows this bar to play much bigger than its 60% weight while still never straying far from the Mast intention for centerline chocolate flavor. American exceptionalism.