It's been a while since I've had a Mars bar. It's probably been even longer since I've had a Mars bar in Canada. The last time I remember having one was in Europe, and I wrote a review. At the time I was on a “are candy bars better frozen kick” and I reviewed the bar twice, once frozen and one at room temperature. My complaints about the European Mars bar at room temperature had to do with the texture of the nougat. I mentioned that it was too soft. This is something I've always thought about Mars bars, that the nougat was disappointing. This is generally why I don't buy them, I just feel like there's something else needed to make this bar work.

I say all of this because for some reason I don't feel the same way about this bar at all. While the nougat is slightly lighter than I love, it's still got a bit of stiffness. I also never remembered the Mars bar having such a deep chocolate flavour. It's not that the chocolate flavour is deep like dark chocolate, it's just a very powerful milk chocolate flavour. It still over powers the caramel a little bit, but it's very tasty. I've always preferred candy bars with a bit of crunch, being from cookies or nuts, but eating this Mars bar was a completely satisfying experience. There was enough chew to the nougat to make it interesting, and that all encompassing chocolate flavour just made me very happy.

While I doubt this bar will rank as an all time favourite, it has changed my mind about Mars bars. While I'm not sure I would ever buy a case of these to enjoy, I feel like I might one day buy one just to enjoy. I would have to eat both the European version and the Canadian one together to find out if they're truly different, or if my opinion on nougat has changed over the years. I'm hoping it's my opinion of nougat, because there are many other nougat threat that I've been avoiding, and maybe now is the time to give them a second chance.