I was in my favorite Oriental supermarket this morning,
and I happened to notice a new (for me) product, a
selection of Meiji dark chocolate bars. The lowest
cocoa content was 72%. I believe the others were
85% and 99%.

For anyone unfamiliar with Meiji, they are the largest
candy company in Japan, with a local market dominance
far surpassing that of any candymaker in any other
country. They market a very diverse product line,
mostly gimmicky confections with lots of artificial
coloring and flavoring. So, it was a surprise to see
an attempt to appeal to the serious chocolate consumer
from them (similar business model to the recent
"Special Dark" offerings from Hershey, except that
the maximum cocoa content in that line is only 60%).

I was surprised how good this bar was. It had good
snap, similar in that way to Villars. It was fruity,
but not to the extent of a Valrhona Le Noir Amer 71%
or Chocovic Guaranda 71% (my two current staples).
For that reason, I don't think Alex would like it
very much, because he prefers more overroasted
chocolates.

I noticed some trace of a flavor I couldn't put my
finger on, which at first faintly suggested coffee.
The ingredients list consisted of normal chocolate
ingredients except for the last ingredient, which
was listed as "artificial flavor". I don't know
what that might be, but if I recall correctly
benzoic acid is sometimes used as a flavor
additive to impart a burnt note. That might
be it.

Overall, I quite like it, and at only $1.99
for a 70 gram bar, it's competitively priced.
The bar is thinner than most bars in this category
(and the center pieces are thinner than those
along the edge) making it rather wide so it has
the feel of a 80-100 gram bar, sort of like
what Villars does with their bar shape.