Vosges bacon chocolate: the verdict. Finally.

Yes, after months (months!) of searching, I found it. The WholeFoodses in Cambridge and Austin may have come up short, but in New York you can find anything, including Vosges new flavor, Mo's Bacon Bar.

(If you don't know why this find was so thrilling, this post about chocolate from June should help.)

I had considered doing the taste test as a videocast, but as soon as I realized I was spending way too much time deciding what to wear (for my big break!), I figured it would be best just to write the play by play.

I took the chocolate out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature. And then we began.

Vosges' bars are hermetically sealed, so there's no way to get a sense of the aroma until you split open the foil wrapper.

Here we go.

Inhale. Smoky; a subtle saltiness.

I'd been hoping for cartoon-like rashers poking out through the chocolate. I guess that would have been asking for too much.

First bite.

Oh.

Wow.

Oh wow yes.

It starts out creamy, buttery, velvet smooth, with a definite smokiness. And then a unmistakable baconiness--hints of fat, nut, spice (juniper?) and a slight crunch (that's the smoked salt).

The finish is salty, but not overwhelimg. Kind of like the peanut butter-chocolate combo, but better. Salt and bacon crunch between the teeth.

When you let it melt in your mouth, you're left with tiny nuggets of bacon, which then dissolve like a whisper. Careful sucking and tonguework removes the chocolate to reveal, on close inspection, perfect little lardons.

Milk chocolate (41% cacao) was a good choice for this; dark would have overwhelmed the bacon's smokiness, I think. It's not overly sweet and provides a balanced counterpoint to the more savory tastes.

The Boy reckons this is the best of Vosges' flavors; the others are great, but this is the most carefully considered and well executed yet. And he also says I should make sure to mention that it frickin' ROCKS.