Since I am conducting a test of the boxed chocolates you can get at your local store, today I am doing the small Russell Stover sampler. I am curious to see if differs from the Whitman’s Sampler at all, since they are made by the same manufacturer.

This box is a small same sized box as the Whitman’s sampler. This one has the design of a rose cluster on the cover. Again, beautiful and simple. No cute animals for me!

Opening the box, this one also has three pieces of chocolate. The shapes are different and they smell sweet with a hint of coconut.

The first piece, is a square covered with milk chocolate. The bite is dense, and inside it’s a smooth, thick, chewy caramel. The Whitman’s caramel was softer and less dense than this one. This one is robust and chewy, but also not sticky. The flavor is a nice mix of the sweet chocolate and the very buttery caramel. A nice combination.

The second piece s oblong and ark chocolate. It smells sweet with an accent of coffee. I take a bite and inside is a fluffy, rich, fudge center. Again I am reminded of the Whitman’s sampler, as these on takes oddly familiar even though this one is enrobed in a different chocolate. This one tastes like a chocolate chip chocolate ice cream. Sweet, creamy, with a nice dark chocolate flavor.

The third chocolate is cup shaped. very much like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup mini. The top has a texture to it to suggest there’s something crispy in this one. It smells powerfully of coconut. Sure enough, my first bite reveals a delicious solid with chocolate filled with coconut flakes. It’s very flavorful, the texture has a nice play of chewy and smooth. Very delicious.

I also want to mention that these are a little nostalgic for me, as I recall my Mom buying these for my and my sisters when we were littler. So there’s my review of the two most common boxed chocolate varieties from your local drugstore. They’re both slightly different while remaining somewhat the same, which is a terrible conclusion since it’s somewhat confusing. My point is, you really can’t go wrong with either the Russell Stover or the Whitman’s sampler as they were both delicious. Besides, it’s Valentine’s Day, it’s the thought that counts!

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Russell Stover Website

One thing that I find frustrating about Valentine’s Day candy is the shelf space that is dedicated to the heart shaped boxes of chocolates. They come in all different sizes and each had a collection of frontal designs to choose from. I find this part of the candy aisle both daunting and annoying. You know they’re all boxes of chocolates, but which is the right size? Which has the assortment you would like? All these answers are unknowns until you buy one to see. That’s exactly what I decided to do.

I decided on the smallest heart shaped box that retailed for about $1.69 at the local drugstore. The color is a beautiful deep red with a rose illustration that looks like it was done in needlepoint on some red fabric. It’s very simple, pretty and romantic. I could have chose one that had a cute animal with googly eyes on it, but I find those obnoxious. I when with both a Whitman’s sampler and a Russell Stover sampler, even thought they are made by the same company.

Inside are three pieces, nicely settled in a plastic tray to keep them protected. They are a middle, milky brown color with a subtle sheen.

The first piece is a molded solid milk chocolate piece with the relief of a delivery boy carrying a box of Whitmans. It smells sweet with a hit of cream and caramel. The chocolate itself tastes of pure nostalgia to me. It’s sweet, creamy, has a nice toasted malty flavor to it which really brings out a “milk chocolate” flavor to it. Simple and tasty, while the piece is small enough to satisfy without going overboard.

The second piece is square shaped, smooth but with rippled from the enrobed chocolate. Like the first piece, it smells sweet with notes of caramel. My first, dense, slow bite reveals that this one has a thick caramel on the inside. The caramel is dense and chewy, but it’s not sticky or too hard. The flavor of the milk chocolate is sweet and malty, and the caramel adds a bright buttery note to it. Tasty, but not refined like more “upscale” caramels that I’ve gotten accustomed to.

The third pieces is an oblong oval, also with enrobed chocolate details on top. Inside this one is a smooth chocolate mousse. It’s light, creamy and fluffy that gives off an intense chocolate flavor that reminds me of chocolate ice cream. Delightfully flavorful and sweet, it went beautifully with a cup of coffee.

For the cost of this sampler, I think it’s a pretty nice little collection of chocolates. Sure they’re not anything overly gourmet or fancy, but there’s something so familiar and satisfying about these in their simplicity. I thought the chocolate was flavorful, way more than any Hershey’s bar I’ve had recently. If my fiance presented me with one of these, I would be pleased.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Whitman’s Website

There’s not too much flavor variation going on during Valentine’s Day. Usually it’s all Cherry or the occasional Strrawberry since everything candy-wise is red colored this time of year. For some variation, I am giving the Brach’s Cinnamon Jelly Hearts a try.

The bag smells intensly of cinnamon and the candies are really cute. They’re hear shaped, about the circumference of a nickel and about half an inch high. They are firm to the touch and aren’t very spongy like some gummis are. These remind me much more of gumdrops.

The flavor is sweet and has a hint of heat to it on my first bite. The two kinda play in my mouth, neither gaining dominance until the end where it gets slightly hotter, but never into the “too spicy” zone. These aren’t as powerful as Red Hots thankfully, so folks like myself who can’t take “hot” candies too terribly well. Instead these are a nice mix of the intense cinnamon flavor with some sweetness to make it more friendly. The texture is nice too, as it’s a ick heavy chew wihtout being sticky. You barely notice the granulated sugar coating.

I was prepared to really not like these, as hot cinnamon candies aren’t my thing. I was surprised that I did like them. I can easily see these as cupcake toppers, as they’re gorgeous to look at. If you like cinnamon candies, I’d seek these out. It’s a great option for Valentine Day candy if you aren’t a fan of cherry.

Rating: Will Eat Again

Links Brach’s Website

Hershey’s Kisses Cherry Cordial Creme are probably the first candy that I became aware of the existence of “limited edition” candies. It was back a few years ago, in 2007 I’d say, when I heard of Candyaddict.com making a petition to bring the flavor back since it had so many fans. Well, needless to say, they were successful! I’ve been seeing around this time of year since then. and I know it’ll sound odd, but this is the first time I actually bought a bag. Part of it is because cherry isn’t a favorite flavor of mine, plus there are so many other cool flavors candies have been coming in so I just didn’t have the time.

I picked this bag up on sale with the holiday candies, but imagine my surprise when I saw it among the Valentines Day candies when the store bought the new stock in. Needless to say, I got a deal! I wanted to explain why my package had snowflakes on it.

Opening the bag you get a very distinct smell. It’s very bright, fruity and red. It does have a “cherry” hint to it, but the kind of cherry medicine reminds you of. The wrapper is a pretty red raspberry color, accented with black stripes. The little paper sticking out the top read “cherry” and it easily identifies the type of kiss you’re looking at. You know, in case the color didn’t already suggest it.

The center of these Kisses are very fluid. hey immediately gush into my mouth as I bite down onto them. The flavor is, sweet at first, very syrupy. Then you start tasting hints of the milk chocolate, then the flavor of the cherry creme even more. It’s terribly sweet, and the flavor is a mix between real cherries and the flavor of red cough medicine. The chocolate takes an edge of the artificial flavor of the cherry, but I still manage to taste to bitter metallic tones of it. Not the worst cherry flavor I’ve ever had, but not the best either.

If you’re a fan of cherry cordials, I’d give these a try. Many friends who I shared these with enjoyed them, especially those who were fans of cordials to begin with. So i feel better about this, since it’s me having the problem, not the candy. It still amazes me how differently we all feel about certain candies. These Cherry Cordial Creme Kisses certainly have their fans, so if you’re curious at all, see why so many petitioned to being them back so long ago.

Rating: Will Eat Again

Links Hershey’s Kisses Webpage

M&M’s has been very good recently with releasing limited edition flavors for the holidays. There was the Candy corn M&M’s for Halloween, the Mint and Cinnamon M&M’s for the Holiday season, and now that Valentine’s Day is fast approaching we have Cherry M&M’s. This isn’t the first time that M&M’s has tried a cherry flavoring. Way back in 2008 when I was still writing for CandyAddict.com I reviewed the Wildly Cherry M&M’s when they first came on the market. Then they released the Cherry Cordial flavor for the holiday season. Still, this is the first plain “Cherry” flavor for M&M’s, so like anything new I have to try it. I know it’s an impossibility, but I do wish I had samples on hand from the older flavors so I could see how they compared to this new flavor.

In case you had any doubt in your mind, this package lets you know it’s for Valentine’s Day. We have the ladies man “Red” on the front, dressed in a tux and holding out a giant heart shaped box that reads “be Mine”. In his other had he holds two cherries, and the back ground is swirled with hearts. It’s pretty romantic. I am also very pleased that they managed to do a package design without any pink on it.

The M&M’s candies are all red or maroon colored, and vary in size by a little bit. Some are larger and some are smaller.

You can smell the cherry flavor on the M&Ms right away. It’s bright and metallic, with a strong juicy note that has a floral edge to it. It’s a cherry flavor I haven’t enountered much before. The aftertaste is a little medicinal, but by all mean it’s not unpleasant.

It’s funny how the cherry flavor diminishes each time you pop a new flavor in your mouth. I’ve paired these with coffee, and I’ve also shared them with my fiance. At first he seemed hesitant, since he isn’t big on cherry flavors. Soon he was eating them piece by piece exclaiming that they are “Pretty good”! If you’re a cherry lover, I do recommend giving these a try. Like other cherry flavors M&Ms has done in the past, these are tasty if you like red candies!

Rating: Might Eat Again

Links M&M’s Website