Chocolate bourbons have always been my nemesis. Even in my happy biscuit munching childhood days of yore,chocolate bourbons were always a biscuit I'd side step. Not because the thought of a delicious chocolate cream gently nestled between two chocolatey biscuits didn't appeal to me, but because, for some reason, the little blighters always gave me stomach ache. It didn't matter the make, the country of purchase, what time of day I ate them or whether I ate them standing on my head: I just could not escape the dreaded stomach cramps. I'm still not entirely sure what caused them (although I do have a problem with butter icing, so...?) so when I found I needed to eat gluten free, chocolate bourbons didn't even enter my vortex of foods I'd miss. I also have to say that, as well as the pain factor, I found them a rather dry, crumbly and pointless addition to the biscuit tin, predisposed to softness and just generally a damp squib.
When the chaps at Lovemore so kindly sent me some samples to try and amongst them I noticed a big box of chocolate bourbon's staring up at me, I could feel myself getting prickly. So, we meet again, my old foe. After realising just how ridiculous I must look talking to a biscuit, I decided to cut these guys some slack. Wheat free, gluten free, dairy free and egg free: the only thing these guys had in common with their brethren was the name and shape. Not all biscuits are created equal, so I decided to throw away my prejudices and give them a go.
First impressions were good. The biscuits felt great, very sturdy with no threat of crumbling under pressure (ho ho). They smelt mildly chocolatey but not the coco deliciousness of the O'Choco.
I split the biscuit in half and there was the filling. Or rather, where was the filling? As you can see, the actual content was rather sparse. Unfortunately, things didn't look up much from there. The flavour was, like the filling, lacking. It tasted mildly of coco but thee was a strong hint of rice flour rising through. This isn't surprising as it is the first ingredient on the list, but it just didn't have the nice rounded 'gluten free biscuit in disguise' flavour of the O'Choco. As such, I couldn't really taste the filling either.
It's such a shame as I had high hopes for these biscuits after being completely blown away by the O'Choco and loving their Jammy Wheels (review to come). I'd like to see the product with more filling to see of that helps it along. As it stands, it's a biscuit that's so close to being there it just falls a little flat. Although my stomach didn't turn in pain, it didn't do jumps of happiness either. Sorry!
FreeFrom: Gluten, Wheat and Dairy and egg.
Where: Lovemore website, Waitrose stores
Score: 4/10
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