Sunday 23 October 2016

2016 - Aldi Specially Selected All Butter Cognac Laced 6 Mince Pies

Aldi have returned with what appears to be the same mince pie last previous years, as hawk eyed readers will notice the same pattern on the mince pies. However, eagle eyed (because I'm assuming an eagles eyesight is better than a hawks) will notice that in our last review the mince pies were laced with brandy, now they have cognac. So, now I've publicly justified reviewing them, lets see how they do.

Presentation - 8 / 10



Definitely an improvement on previous year's. The matt black box with textured red border is quite nice. It feels luxurious... well more so than you'd expect from Aldi. There are some similar features that have made its way through the years, such as  the "Deep and Crisp and Even" text written on the bottom right, which I'm glad to say is printed correctly!

The pies themselves haven't changed so no extra points scored here.





Nutritional Content & Price - 8 / 10

These are £1.49 a box, which are reasonable. No complaints here.

These have 8.4g of fat, 19g of sugar and 240 calories. These are actually better than the ones we've looked at previously. Lower in all categories including a whole 7 calories lower. To me that means I can eat one more mince pie.. well, just a nibble more.



Pastry - 19 / 35

I'm not so keen on these now. The lid of the pie has a great evenly baked consistency. It's buttery and crumbly; really quite nice. However, this does not continue around the pie. We have a soggy bottom and sides. Its absorbed the moisture from the filling leaving a dough-like mush. A bit of a let down to what could have been a fantastic pastry.


Mincemeat - 25 / 35

The mincemeat is certainly laced with cognac, but its not overpowering at all. Very well filled and should be called deep filled. These might have been a very liquid-esq filling, but the pastry has helped absorb most of that up leaving a decent consistency. Plenty of fruit, not too sweet and a nice spiced taste coming through.

Overall Satisfaction - 7 / 10

These are not bad at all. A little heating in the oven and we would have a very nice mince pie, but you know the rules - straight out of the box tasting. 

  OVERALL SCORE - 67 / 100

See where this mince pie sit on our leader board here.

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