I genuinely don’t remember a Sainsbury’s mince pie blowing me away with flavour. Looking back, a good amount of the Sainsbury’s pies, especially these Taste the Difference ones, score quite highly on the league table. Looking a bit closer though, the taste scores are never smashing it out of the door. So let’s see how these go…

Packaging

There is absolutely zero doubt about it…Sainsbury’s have won packaging for 2019. The box here is genuinely lovely, in fact, close to perfect! Yes really!

I mean, let’s have a proper look…

It’s got a window. It’s genuinely Christmassy, just look at the pine cones, the tree baubles, the holly on the Taste the Difference logo…even the ‘Infused with Brandy’ font is just lovely!

The magic words at the bottom left too ‘…contains alcohol’.

What is not to love, spectacular!

10/10

Presentation

So, the packaging is great, how about the pies themselves…

Gold tray, very even bake, star topper with snowflake on top of that, light sprinkle of sugar to give them ‘the look’.

Cor…I’m in love!

10/10

Filling

It’s been a big big start in the scoring, how about what’s inside?

They are very full, there is a nice, but not spectacular aroma from them too. It’s actually not bad at all though. The filling is chunky and fruity, but I’m struck by that tell tale buttery smell you often get from the Sainsbury’s pies.

7/10

Taste Test

Right…in the past, Sainsbury’s have fallen down here. A good result and these could well be the great ever!

Sadly, not.

They aren’t bad by any means. They have a flavour, they are buttery, but I don’t love them. I wish I did, but there just isn’t enough of a brandy kick, there isn’t enough aroma here, but there is some after-kick, if you like that.

The pastry is buttery as usual, and yes I know these are buttery mince pies, but I just find these kind lack a crumble or crunch and just melt into that claggy, wash me down with a brew, muck in the top of your mouth.

Now, don’t get me wrong, these are fine, but not as good as you want them to be.

15/20

Overall Score

A stunningly high score and Sainsbury’s best mince pie yet, when you take the whole package into account! Work on the recipe still needed though!

42/50