Auro Paquibato Philippines 70%
Auro - Paquibato - Single Estate - Philippine - 70% - Batch 21AUG2025
Cacao origin/type:
Local cacao variety
Ingredients:
Cacao beans, muscovado sugar, cacao butter
Other facts:
Made in Philippines (dba Auro Chocolate, Calamba City)
Precise origin: Paquibato, Davao City
Altitude: 305 meters
Other crops in the fields: Coconuts, jackfruit, mangosteen, lansones
Awards: Academy of Chocolate - Bronze Winner 2019 , Academy of Chocolate - Silver Winner 2020 , Cocoa of Excellence - Winner 2019 , Regional Bronze - Intern. Chocolate Awards 2019
Auro was founded in the Philippines in 2015 as a socially committed chocolate company and is one of the interesting and exemplary cases in which the producer or brand itself is based in the country where the cocoa is grown. Here, in direct communication with the farmers, they pay significantly more than other buyers and try to contribute to the preservation of local cocoa varieties and preserve the actually old cocoa traditions in the Philippines. So we're not just dealing with bean-to-bar and single origin, but even single estate here. Meaning just one specific plantation or plantation collective from which all the beans come, in this case Paquibato.
Paquibato is a community of nearly 2,500 people that is part of the Davao region on the southern island of Mindanao. Davao was once the center of cocoa cultivation in the Philippines. Paquibato lies on the edge of the region, in the valleys of the tropical mountains.
As for the product itself, the Reserve Collection from Auro, which we have here, comes in the typical cardboard envelopes. That means it has an advantage over the most basic folded outer packaging of some other bars: You only have one, fixed opening, which is in this case not resealable originally, but can be easily closed again with a piece of adhesive tape, without any effort.
The design combines indigenous elements with a bit of gold, with a nice and harmonious color choice. What's particularly cool is the information on the tab on the back, where you basically have a diagram about the intensity of the specific chocolate in terms of values such as acidity, fruitiness, etc., as well as more detailed information about the single estate, which I quoted above in this article, just before the awards. In particular, the naming of other plants and crops in the cocoa fields is very exciting and important for the terroir. The bar itself is in an attractive, golden aluminum foil with prints of cocoa plants on it.
About the bar: Quite dark and very matt, leathery brown, without any color tint. Divided into different geometric shapes, with the logo in the middle. There is a picture attached below the review so that you can understand it without a lengthy description. It looks very elaborate and is not 100% perfect, but of really high quality and, in keeping with the spirit of the times, a very thin chocolate bar. It breaks relatively snappy, clear and with a straight edge, with a very lightly porous cross section.
Aroma:
Detecting special aromas in the nose of high-quality chocolate is noticeably more difficult than in the mouth. But here you can immediately notice the differences, clear coconut shavings, light raisins and floral notes, as well as a hint of pineapple
Taste:
Very slow melt, very elegant and without any particles, with notes of white flowers, light raisins and subtle pineapple, but no noticeable citrus acid, slightly caramelized light nuts, pecans and hazelnuts in particular
Finish:
The finish is very calm, creamy and elegant, coconut and light nuts, medium length
Conclusion:
You can taste the high level of craftsmanship here at every second, the consistency, the delicate and perfect melting, it's just almost a little too elegant in taste to stand out in the wide world of high-end chocolate.
