Häagen-Dazs - Stout Chocolate Pretzel Crunch

 Stout Chocolate Pretzel Crunch - Chocolate Ice Cream infused with Stout with Chocolate Covered Pretzels and a Fudge Swirl

Häagen-Dazs has a new line of flavors for 2019.  They call it the Spirits Collection:  five new flavors (plus one non-dairy flavor) based on alcoholic drinks.  Very interesting!  I notice that I have reviewed one of the flavors already -- Bourbon Pecan Praline -- when it was part of a limited batch release.  I started seeing the rest of the flavors (in updated packaging) in my local grocery store last week and I picked up a couple of pints.  The first flavor that I'm having is caled Stout Chocolate Pretzel Crunch.  I have had a couple of stout-themed pints (here and here).  It will be fun to see how this one compares.

Opening the pint, I see the standard brown color of the chocolate base with some small pieces and swirls of fudge visible on top.  It looks quite a bit like one of their other chocolate with chocolate mix-ins pints (such as Midnight Cookies & Cream).  With the first spoonful, I immediately notice the alcohol, though -- particularly the aroma.  It is quite fragrant and a bit sweet.  The chocolate is quite good (Häagen-Dazs' chocolate base is one of the best out there) and the fudge swirl works very well with it.  If I focus, I can sense notes of malt in there as well.  The chocolate-covered pretzels are dispersed at a moderate frequency throught out the pint.  They are crunchy with a bit of salt.  They aren't too common, though.  They only occasionally distract from the stout-chocolate combination of the base and swirl.

I really enjoyed this pint!  I enjoyed it quite a bit more than I expected.  To be honest, I chose this flavor to go first because I wanted to save what I thought would be better pints for later, but now I'm wondering how much better those pints could be.  The balance of alcohol in this pint is perfect.  I get a large amount of the things that I really like -- the aroma and flavor -- but it does not feel at all 'boozy'.  There is no 'burn' or 'kick' and the alcohol is not strong enough to make the ice cream soft or soupy.  I'm not sure that I would have guessed that stout was the alcohol used here, though.  It tastes a bit sweeter than that.  I guess there is plenty of sweetness supplied by the base and swirl, though.  I recommend this for all chocolate lovers who are curious about 'spiking' their ice cream.  I am looking forward to the rest of the pints in this collection.