Thorntons The Snowman and the Snowdog: Christmas selection box

Product name: Thorntons The Snowman and the Snowdog: Christmas selection box
Country of origin: UK

I like to keep you on your toes so, for tonight’s review, I’m hopping back to a Christmas product that I received as part of a gift. This Thorntons The Snowman and the Snowdog: Christmas selection box came in a box depicting a snowy scene from said film and, as a nice additional touch, the base contained a join-the-dots colouring activity for children, as well as photographs of the five products within.

I will be reviewing and scoring each of these products separately but I will also provide an average score for the overall selection box at the end.

All of the milk chocolate used in this box contained a minimum of 30% cocoa solids and 20% milk solids, whist the dark chocolate contained a minimum of 65% cocoa solids.

Vanilla fudge cubes
Calories: 150 for a 30g bag

I’ve always been more of a chocolate fan than a sweets fan so I wasn’t overly excited about these vanilla flavoured fudge cubes. However, once I caught a whiff of their rich, creamy, sugary and vanilla scent, my interest was raised!

The mini cubes were a ‘proper’ colour for fudge and came in a branded, clear cellophane bag. They had a slightly grainy surface and a surprisingly enjoyable texture which was right in the middle of that of butter tablet and chewy fudge – it was really soft with a bit of resistance, which almost made the first chomp like chewing on gum, but it then melded together and melted away nicely.

Containing sweetened condensed milk, clotted cream and butter, the cubes had a sweet, brown sugary taste and the flavour also managed to capture both the fudge and the vanilla elements of its name. 

Appearance: 7.5/10 

Aroma: 8/10 

Taste: 7.5/10 

Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.63/10

The Snowman chocolate truffle
Calories: 126 for a 22g truffle

This ‘milk chocolate snowman with smooth chocolate truffle filling (22%)’ was the only item in the box to come in a proper wrapper that followed the snowy theme of the cardboard packaging.

The chocolate itself was quite glossy and relatively dark in appearance and I just loved The Snowman and the Snowdog shape that it had been moulded into. I really didn’t want to ruin its good looks by cutting into it but, when I did break through the surprisingly hard chocolate shell, I was greeted by an attractive, smooth filling in a much paler shade of brown.

Despite being milk chocolate, the chocolate had a smell that I associated more with dark chocolate, and its strong cocoa flavour ensured a very chocolatey taste. However, for some reason, I didn’t actually find this all that interesting. It was just, well...chocolate. The truffle centre didn’t seem to add that much to the flavour either and, as a huge chocolate fan, I was left bemused as to why I felt so underwhelmed.

As for the texture, the chocolate’s unique shape meant it was satisfyingly chunky to chew and, despite being relatively thin, the truffle melted smoothly.

This product actually reminded me of Lindt Lindor truffles, although the flavour wasn’t as rich, and it wasn’t quite as upmarket!

Appearance: 9/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.63/10

The Snowman lolly
Calories: 152 for a 28g lolly

This lollipop came described as ‘white chocolate with dark chocolate and coloured decoration’ and was presented in a clear plastic wrapper with a couple of basic Thorntons labels.

Like the truffle, the lolly was shaped to look like The Snowman, but this chocolate’s outline wasn’t quite as detailed. However, it did instead feature a green hat and scarf and an orange nose – I just found this a bit off-putting, psychologically, in the same way that I couldn’t bring myself to eat green ketchup years ago! At least I knew the buttons were just the colour of standard dark chocolate.

I had been a little concerned on decapitating the lolly since the inside looked almost fluffy. However, I needn’t have worried about the texture – the chocolate melted gradually but nicely. It wasn’t the smoothest chocolate ever but it certainly wasn’t bad, and it was nice and chunky to chew too.

The chocolate had a sickly sweet white chocolate aroma and this extreme sweetness was also present in the flavour. It wasn’t as creamy as I’d have liked but it was ok and it actually tasted better the lower down the Snowman’s body I got so I wondered if the colouring had actually affected the quality of the flavour. As for the dark chocolate, I couldn’t taste this at all but, hey, it looked good! 

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 6/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 6.88/10

Milk chocolate buttons
Calories: 163 for a 30g bag

These Milk chocolate buttons came in the same type of bag as the fudge and had a very basic appearance – relatively dark, think discs with a slightly dusty surface. The upper side of each button was slightly curved, but there wasn’t much difference between the top and bottom, really.

The buttons had a pretty standard chocolate smell that reminded me of the kind I use for baking – it was sweet but not too strong. They had a sweet cocoa taste which was quite strong in the throat but, for me, they weren’t as milky as I would have liked.

The extreme shallowness of the buttons meant they easily broke apart in the mouth. I found they tended to soften rather than melt and, in addition, they were quite chewy rather than chunky.

These weren’t the best chocolate buttons I’ve ever had but they did the job.

Appearance: 6.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 6.88/10

White chocolate buttons
Calories: 174 for a 32g bag

Visually, the White chocolate buttons were much like the milk chocolate variety, coming in a clear Thorntons bag and being moulded into pieces of the same shape and size. However, I felt the cream colour made them look fresher in appearance, and it also meant their dusty coating wasn’t as visible. I wasn’t quite sure why the bag weighed 2g more but, for the record, this white chocolate version only contained two more calories per 100g than the Milk chocolate buttons.

These buttons had a milky white chocolate smell which, thankfully, didn’t come with the same sickliness that the Snowman lolly had. They had pretty much the same texture as the Milk chocolate buttons, with a slightly rough surface, but I found that they weren’t quite as soft. As a result, they were great in handfuls, as this resulted in a bit of combined solidity when chewing.

The White chocolate buttons were initially sweet but, towards the end of each mouthful, released a nice creaminess. I’d been a bit apprehensive of the quality of this white chocolate following my experience of the Snowman lolly but I felt Thorntons redeemed themselves here. The flavour actually took me back to my childhood, despite me never having had these particular buttons before, so I presume they didn’t taste too dissimilar from Nestlé Milkybar: Buttons. They definitely had a nicer and stronger flavour than I expected. 

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.25/10

If you’d told me before I opened this selection box that the Vanilla fudge cubes would be my joint top-scorer, I wouldn’t have believed you! The chocolate may not have always rocked my world but I can see that this Christmas gift was aimed more at children who would probably have enjoyed its sweetness more than I did. Even so, I wouldn’t complain if I got the same again next year!

Appearance: 7.4/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7.2/10
Texture: 7.4/10
Overall score: 7.25/10