Another Boxed Chocolate Option for Father's Day

Whitman's Samplers have been around for a long, long time.  One of the coolest things about them is that in the lid of the box they have vague shapes that represent the compartments that the candy sits in as you can see in this photo.  This lets you know what you are putting into your mouth before you do.  Your Chocolate Priestess has memories of eating these samplers with her parents and picking through them for the varieties she wanted while Daddy ate the others.  So in honor of that memory, and because I found this "Dark Chocolates" sampler on sale in our local CVS recently, I'm going to reveal it to you in time for you to go out at the last minute for your Father's Day shopping.

This 12oz box is normally $10 but on sale I got it for $6 so I could easily buy Dad a few other things plus a nice card.  (I didn't, by the way, I sent him something from a small chocolatier who lives very close to their hometown.)  The box has 15 compartments for chocolate and two layers of the candies.  Only two of these the Toffee Chip is repeated so you get 14 different varieties and with 2-4 pieces of each.  The nutritional information is a bit difficult to decipher because it says "4 pieces" equals a serving but I think they probably mean four compartments of chocolate equals a serving.  That has 220 calories made up of 7g saturated ft, 5mg cholesterol, 50mg sodium, 2g fiber, 22g sugars, 2g protein, 2% vitamin A and calcium, and 6% of the iron you need daily.  The very first ingredient on the list is chocolate so I have high hopes for this box.

As you can see these are neatly laid out so it is easy to use the lid to determine the flavors.  Starting at the upper left and going across the top we have: Coconut, Peanuts, Caramel, Almonds, and Chocolate Whip.  In the second row we get: Pecan/English Walnut Cluster, Molasses Chew, Messenger Boy which is a solid dark chocolate piece, Almond Nougat, and Cashew Cluster.  The third row includes a Chocolate Truffle, Toffee Chip, Cherry Cordial, another Toffee Chip, and a Vermont Fudge.

The chocolate is nicely bitter and dark like I was hoping and it melts in my fingers suggesting it is purer than what I was expecting from such a big company's candies.  The combinations that should be chewy are chewy, while those that should be crunchy were crunchy with each bite.  My favorite was the Chocolate Whip because it was simple and very chocolaty yet tasted light and airy.  I have to be honest, Sisters and Brother, and confess I didn't bother with either the Coconut or the Cherry Cordial so others will have to give their input on that.  Over all I was greatly pleased with this selection and I think it's a very good mass produced choice for any gift you might be rushing to buy.

So if you think your father would like a little dark chocolate and he enjoys most of these flavors, this Whitman Sampler might be your salvation at this late date before Father's Day.  What he doesn't like, I'm sure your mother will.