Review: Mars (Kraft)

According to the Danish description on the wrapper this is a “Milk chocolate with nougat”. Strangely, though, there are no (hazel)nuts listed in the declaration and perhaps it should state caramel instead of nougat. In German it is described as “Milk chocolate filled with fine candy cream”. And sure enough when you bite into the bar it is very creamy indeed.

The bar appears to be made up of three different parts a layer of cream (the “nougat”?) making up the about 2/3 of the bar and is topped by some sort of soft caramel cream. These two components are then covered with milk chocolate. The wrapper in itself does not give a good indication of what type of chocolate this is, but here the Mars name & fame probably means that customers are well aware of what kind of offering this is. The bar itself looks appetizing enough though I think the chocolate should be much shinier than is the case here. Appearance: 6, 5 out of 10.

Aroma: The aroma appears somewhat odd and is hard to describe. Sure enough I can smell sweetness, cocoa and salt but there is also a different – and not altogether nice - smell which I can not define. Aroma: 6 out of 10.

The texture is very soft. The chocolate melts away leaving a soft chewy caramel. There is too little snap from the chocolate and no contrast in form of crunch and here I think is a good opportunity for improvement. Texture: 7 out of 10.

This bar has a very sweet dairy chocolate flavour. You can taste the malt with its honey notes and the caramel. The flavour though is uncomplex and probably likely to have a broad appeal. A positive feature of this offering is the salt which in my opinion is much underrated in chocolate. Still this is not enough to make up for the lack of complexity in flavour. I think more intensity in the caramel and cream would considerably improve this one. With a more intense flavour this bar would probably sweep away all competition in its market segment. Flavour: 6, 5 out of 10.

Average: 6, 5 out of 10