Before talking about this ice cream, I have to confess that I seldom eat flavors with nuts. I've never had a butter pecan flavor in my life. They just don't excite me and I had this idea in my head that any flavors featuring them would fall flat and be boring. As is commonly the case, I was mistaken.
Upon opening the lid I was immediately greeted with the creamy base and a rather large pool of caramel. The base itself is your standard Haagen Dazs vanilla, which is one of the best of it's kind. There's not much to say apart from the fact that this is the typical velvety goodness that you expect from the brand. The caramel swirl, on the other hand, was less predictable. The deep, golden pools of caramel were incredibly sweet, even by my own standards. What took me back the most was the fact that the caramel had the slightest boozy taste to it, as if rum had been used in the process. It's been a while since I've scooped their Caramel Cone, Salted Caramel Truffle or Dulce de Leche, the caramel swirls in those pints didn't seem to be the same, but I could be mistaken. In any event, it was a welcome change of pace, and complimented the base perfectly.
But the real winner of the pint, to my astonishment, were the pecan pieces. I always thought that the nuts used in these flavors were the standard, un-coated variety, but I was mistaken. Instead, these bits of heaven were coated with a buttery, waxy shell of what I believe was cinnamon-sugar. Needless to say, the flavor of the coating was unreal, and the nuts themselves were so fresh and brittle that they almost dissolved in my mouth. All in all, I think this is one of my favorite flavors from Haagen Dazs, and probably the most pleasant surprise that I've picked up in many moons. A reminder that we should never give into our presuppositions.
Where Mike Found It: Walgreens
Mike's Grade: B
The Ice Cream Informant's Grade: A
