Here we have the El Blanco bar from Willie Harcourt Cooze, famous for his "Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory" TV show. I was intrigued by the El Blanco because other blog reviews suggest it's one of the better quality white chocolates around. Looking at the ingredients list I could well believe it; cocoa butter is the first ingredient, followed by milk powder, and sugar is last. Now that's very rare for white chocolate! It also contains no vanilla flavouring, another rarity for white chocolate.
I found this in a local department store for £1.90. It's very well presented, with a classy looking box design and matte foil wrapper. The blurb on the back says: "This is white chocolate as it should be, light and milky. The secret is beautiful ingredients and balance. Natural Venezuelan cacao butter, sugar cane from Guadaloupe and British milk, all in perfect harmony".
The chocolate itself looks great - very clean and smooth, with "Willies fruitful cacao" imprinted on it. I'm guessing he's referring to the fruity tastes from the cacao beans.
I found there was a crack going diagonally across the back, so I snapped it in half that way:
I have to say, this bar did indeed taste as good as other bloggers have described! What struck me the most was how creamy it tasted, without being overly sweet. It wasn't cloying or overly milky, just creamy and fresh tasting. There was an odd "cocoa" aftertaste, and as I'm not used to white chocolate having any hint of cocoa whatsoever, it was quite a surprise to me.
I imagine those who are used to sweeter chocolates might be disappointed in this bar, as it's a very different experience from virtually all other types of white chocolate. Personally I loved it, and will definitely buy it again at some point. According to the pack it's usually used for dessert making, although I'm not sure many people would use it for that since it's quite pricey for the amount you get.
Overall, a very delicious and good quality white chocolate bar!