I have a theory about mixing strange (or some might say bad) flavours with chocolate. I believe you get one of two outcomes, you either wreck the chocolate with the strange ingredient, or you improve the ingredient by adding chocolate. I used to be in the school that adding chocolate improves everything, but since trying a few chocolate combinations I’ve had a change of heart. Since durian is a very divisive fruit, many people would say that the chocolate is probably ruined. I however am a little more optimistic, as in my experience I’ve found that durian is actually improved with creamy/fatty flavours. Before writing this review I found that the best durian treat I’ve had so far was durian ice cream. The cream has a lot of the same benefits as milk chocolate, so I’m hopeful.

The smell is where durian gets it’s signature flavours. I’ve described durian in the past as smelling like rotten onions and burning rubber. Once you put most durian flavoured items (or durians themselves) in your mouth that odor shoots into your olfactory and your entire head tastes/smells like rotten onions and burning rubber. This bar does smell like durian, however it is somewhat subdued. While I’m optimistic, I can tell you that freeze dried durian also has a subdued smell but once you eat it everything changes.

After eating the first square of this chocolate bar, two things come to mind. The first is a slight coffee like flavour that seems to permeate. I’m not sure if that’s a combination of durian and chocolate, or if it’s just the chocolate. The second thought I had is while this isn’t that pleasant, but it’s not intolerable either. I can taste the durian but it’s not assault every part of my olfactory. I actually managed to get through about a dozen squares and each one seems to make the durian flavour a little more tolerable. I won’t say that I ever love the flavour, but the chocolate has done its work and made it okay.

I will say that a big part of this chocolate bar working is the high quality chocolate from the folks at Siamaya Chocolate. While I’m not a huge fan of this bar, the fact that they managed to make a durian chocolate bar tolerable is a big accomplishment. I’ll be interested in trying more of their chocolates in flavours that I might actually like. The only reason you might not be a big fan of this bar is if you happen to be a big fan of durian and the more pungent the durian the more you like it. The high quality chocolate might kill that pungent flavour a bit to much for any durian fan out there. However, if you happen to be a durian novice, and you want to try something a little more subtle this might be a great gateway to that experience.