12 Store-Bought Boxed Chocolates, Ranked Worst To Best

Chocolate is a fantastic gift. Not only is it a holiday staple, including on Valentine's Day and Christmas, but it can always be an "I'm thinking of you" gift given throughout the year as well. Since boxed chocolates are often given as gifts, rarely do you ever actually get to taste what's inside of that box that you're passing to a coworker, loved one, or special someone. While the package may make it look like a great selection, you should really have an idea of how tasty the chocolate is inside before you decide to write a little note on it and hand it over to its intended recipient. 

Lucky for you, I've done the hard work and eaten my way through several different boxed chocolate brands to see which were most worth gifting. I looked for candies with a balance of sweetness and diverse textures, as well as those that came in a beautiful, sophisticated package. 

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

I started this ranking with Queen Anne's chocolate because I knew it would be the most one-note out of all the brands. Based on the label, I expected a ton of cherry. But instead, I was met with a sickeningly sweet, condensed milk-like filling along with the smallest morsel of cherry imaginable. It was unappealing, to say the least.

The flavor of this candy was certainly sweet, but that sweetness wasn't from the cherries nor the chocolate. Rather, it was from that mysterious, milky-looking substance. The worst thing about this whole box, though, was that it was all the same candies. I ate half a bite of one and was too overwhelmed to go in for another. I couldn't imagine eating an entire box. 

Whitman's are available all year at Walmart. They're a budget-friendly selection; however, the packaging is a little immature and cheap. Each box houses an assortment of 22 candies, ranging from nut caramels and peanut clusters to chocolate buttercreams and chocolate-covered caramels. The diversity is definitely here, but the quality is not. 

Let's start out with the orange créme — which is no more than orange-zested toothpaste. It is so, so sweet and overwhelming. The vanilla créme is surprisingly worse, as there isn't anything to save it from the cloyingness. The chocolate buttercream showed potential, as it had a little bit of caramel flavor and was nougat-like, but it lacked the high-quality chocolate taste my top-ranking brands offered. The same can be said about the nut caramel and the regular chocolate-covered caramel; their quality was on par with what I would expect from a dollar-store candy bar. 

The only candy in this box worth eating is the chocolate-covered peanuts, but the nuts inside even taste stale. I get that Whitman's is trying to offer a budget-friendly option, but its poor quality makes it a gift destined for the trash can. 

The Godiva Goldmark candies that I sampled for this ranking were a whopping $10 more than the Whitman's sampler and Russell Stover boxes. What made it worse is that you get a total of nine candies in the entire box, while the cheaper brands on this list offered upwards of 20. Value-wise, it's not looking good for Godiva. 

The designs of these candies were simple and nothing to write home about. Of the three varieties, the dark chocolate dome, milk chocolate hazelnut heaven, and the milk chocolate almond caramel, I would have to say that the milk chocolate variety impressed me the most. The hazelnut praline in the center is really nut-forward and balanced, and the caramel offers the perfect level of sweetness for the candy. Otherwise, I wasn't impressed. The dark chocolate dome was truffle-like in flavor, but the coating was too hard to easily sink my teeth into it. Though, it has a solid dark chocolate flavor. The almond caramel had too much caramel and not enough almond. The chocolate was cheap and sweet, and didn't do much to help the candy overall. 

From a quality perspective, Godiva did better than the lower-ranking brands. However, the amount of money I paid for this box doesn't justify the product I got, which is why this box earned a spot near, but not on, the bottom. 

Russell Stover offers a slightly higher-quality product than Whitman's, and for a similar price. Variety is the spice of life for this brand; there are 10 flavors represented in this box of 16 candies. 

My overall impression is that Russell Stover dipped its foot in the water with complex flavors, but didn't really take a deep enough dive for them to be successful. Its pecan delight, for example, was 90% caramel with very little nut. The nut caramel was in the same boat; it had a little essence of "nut" something, but I was so overwhelmed by cheap chocolate and nougat that I couldn't pull the nut flavor out enough. However, I will say that Russell Stover has a better quality candy than Whitman's, which is why it placed higher on this list. 

The most enjoyable candy in this box was probably the buttery toffee — mainly because it's really, really hard for a brand to mess up a Heath Bar-like treat. The candy was crisp and super buttery, but dare I say it was a little too sweet to be considered a true toffee? The same can be said about the strawberry marshmallow center of the strawberry créme (which was, in a word, "gross"). This box of candy wouldn't be something I would purchase, especially because the "made with the finest ingredients" on the label made me laugh. But, I didn't have to spit any of the candies out — which was a win in my book. 

I'll let you in on a little secret here: I don't like the consistency of Lindt's truffles. The candies in this box are like the normal balls of Lindt truffles, just with a little bit more going on in terms of texture. 

The milk and dark chocolate truffles weren't anything to write home about, as they didn't offer anything else besides a creamy interior and chocolate flavor (which tasted more sugary than chocolatey). The white chocolate in this box was a higher-quality candy than other cheap white chocolates I've sampled, but it still wasn't anything out of the ordinary. That leaves the fudge chocolate swirl and the caramel dark chocolate truffle. 

I was expecting that the caramel one would have caramel inside — but it was just a white chocolate center with strands of caramel (but not the delicious, ooey-gooey kind) swirled into it. Eating it was like lighting a sparkler only for it to die out on the stick. The same could be said for the fudge, which had a slightly deeper flavor than the classic truffle, but not enough to clearly distinguish it as "fudge."

All in all, I was disappointed by Lindt's truffles. They weren't anything particularly high-quality or special, which is what I look for in a good chocolate candy. This is one brand that's all packaging and no show. 

Is it possible for a box of chocolates to be dainty? Merci definitely encapsulated that word with its box of European chocolates. The flavors here are simple and approachable and include praline, chocolate mousse, hazelnut almond, dark cream, nougat, coffee cream, and more. 

The chocolate cream was the first one I sampled. It was rich and creamy, almost like a Ritter Sport bar, but it was quite balanced overall. The praline one, which I sampled next, was less successful. It has the same buttery chocolate flavor, but without that clear nuttiness and caramel flavor I was looking for. The dark chocolate mousse definitely had a mousse-like texture inside of the chocolate bar, and it was tasty enough. Although I am usually partial to coffee, the hazelnut-almond was my favorite candy in this pack. The chocolate was the perfect base for the fresh pieces of nuts. It was texturally satisfying and creamy, in the way that a good piece of chocolate could be. 

Merci's chocolates definitely take on more of a creamy mouthfeel than the cheap, Americanized product I'm used to. It strikes me as a good after-dinner chocolate, and I wouldn't mind having a few of these around for snacking purposes. But, it didn't have the same complexity and flawless execution as my higher-ranked brands, so I had to put it in the middle of this ranking. 

I received two containers of See's chocolates: a standard chocolate selection and truffles. The selection in both was plentiful, and I found the chocolate here to be much more high-quality than some of the grocery brands on this list. This box is also hefty, so you get a lot of bang for your buck, which is not the case with some of the higher-priced candies in this ranking. 

See's crunchy toffee wasn't as buttery as Russell Stover's, but I appreciated that its sweetness was more approachable. The nutty caramel candies were tasty, and the nuts were quite fresh, which I absolutely loved. Plus, the almonds were plentiful, which is not something that can be said with many of the other brands on this list. However, there were certainly some candies in here that were better than others. For one, I bit into one that was supposed to be caramel (I think), but it was gritty — like I was biting into a wad of chocolate-covered brown sugar.

As you might be able to guess by that statement, my biggest qualm with this brand is that I didn't get a guide as to which candy was which. So, it kind of felt like Russian roulette — especially when I bit into something that might have been orange or mint or something I couldn't wrap my head around (and promptly had to spit out). I think when Forrest Gump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates," he truly was referring to this box of chocolates in particular. I really never know what I'm going to get with See's. 

This small but mighty package of candy from Ferrero Rocher is for people who know what they like. There are 12 candies total across three flavors: dark chocolate Rondnoir, the classic Ferrero Rocher with hazelnuts, and Raffaello. It's nothing special in terms of packaging, and it's certainly an alternative for folks who don't like the more complex, fine chocolates. 

I would describe these candies as simple yet effective. I tried the Rondnoir first, and I'll admit that it was my favorite of the candies I've sampled up until this point. The chocolate is smooth and creamy — not super high-quality, but passable — and the wafers offer a complementary crunch that I was craving from many of the lower-ranked boxed candy brands on this list. The classic Ferrero Rocher was average at best, nutty enough but not particularly rich. The Raffaello, which is coated with coconut flakes and encasing an almond, could have developed a little more of those nutty notes, but it was otherwise satisfying to eat. 

This box is really appealing to folks who don't love chocolate. The flavor wasn't sickeningly sweet, but there was enough chocolate to make it overwhelming. Its appearance is somewhat cheap and basic, but I don't think you could really complain about being gifted it. 

Pretty wasn't something that came to mind with many of the brands on this list, but it appears it's exactly what Koho was trying to achieve with its chocolates. These are absolutely beautiful to look at, and they are something that I wanted to put in a frame. Oh, and I will be saving the gift box it came with. It's that beautiful. 

The coating on these candies is well-done and glossy, which is a sign of quality craftsmanship. The first candy I sampled was the guava caramel, and I was impressed by the flavor of the guava that came through on a perfectly smooth and creamy caramel. However, my favorite chocolate in this box was the ginger caramel. All I could say was "wow" as I ate it. There's the perfect tongue-singe of ginger and the decadent caramel that Koho does so beautifully; it's an immaculate pairing that takes this dessert a step up from "sweet." If you like sweet chocolates, you'll also love its macadamia blossom honey caramel, which has the florality of honey with the sweetness of the caramel. 

The only point of improvement here is that I wish there were more of the candies listed in the candy guide. Like I really, really wanted to try both the Kona coffee caramel and the coconut caramel, but they were not in my assorted box. 

Trader Joe's dark chocolate truffles surprised me, to be honest. The grocery store chocolates on this list, as a whole, didn't fare well against their premium competitors. But, this wax-sealed box proved to be a good selection, even for someone with a modest budget. 

The design of these candies was simple and elegant, yet very effective. The eight candy varieties are placed in their own wells; each box packs 16 in total. There are two flavors that I eyed with a little bit of concern: the lemon-flavored one with milk chocolate and the key lime-pie-flavored one. I expected the filling to be like a lemon or a lime curd. The key lime was actually filled with chocolate, though it had the lightest touch of citrus possible. It was weirdly pleasant to eat — which is far from what I was expecting. The lemon one has a white filling, which is creamy and less sugary than the other créme-filled candies I sampled from other brands. Again, the flavor here was soft and light, but clearly lemon. Even the orange truffle chocolate was balanced, though the orange essence here was a little too artificial for my liking.

My favorite candy in this box had to be the caramel macchiato, though. It had the perfect ratio of gooey chocolate filling to chocolate coating. Oh, and the salted caramel? Wildly buttery and delicious. There wasn't a single candy in this box that I didn't like, which was impressive. But, it just didn't have the same giftability as my top brands. 

I audibly gasped when I opened this box of Magno chocolates. The lunar gem concept shines through in both the packaging and the chocolates themselves. Each of the small-batch chocolates is coated with 24-karat gold. The flavors were simpler than the design and included semi-sweet chocolate with whisky ganache, white chocolate and caramelized macadamia nuts, semi-sweet chocolate and caramel, and white chocolate with pistachios and cranberries. 

I had never thought to put pistachio and cranberry in a chocolate, but boy, did it work well. The nuts were fresh and bright, while the fruit was just sweet enough to pair with the white chocolate. The whisky ganache-filled, though not my cup of tea, was so boozy, yet also bitter and balanced. It was one of the most complex boozy chocolates I've ever had. I also loved the caramelized macadamia chocolate because the nuts were crispy, and their flavor was fresh rather than washed away by the caramel. It was more balanced than any macadamia candy I've ever had — truly a triumph. 

My only complaint was with the chocolate and caramel candy, as the chocolate was too thick to take a bite of. I ended up cracking the candy in two and splintering it. Besides this, I loved the Magno chocolates selection. The offerings were complex rather than just sweet, which makes it a perfect selection for an ambitious candy lover. 

L.A. Burdick is one of the best chocolate brands – and for good reason. Its chocolates are sophisticated, not just in design but also in flavor. The wooden box, complete with a gift ribbon and a wax seal, caught me off-guard. I knew from the start that this wouldn't be any ol' box of chocolates. 

The chocolate in these candies is so smooth and well-crafted that I forgot about the cheap chocolates I had sampled for this ranking. I tried the cashew sesame first. The sesame was the perfect nutty contrast to the decadent chocolate. The Earl Grey chocolate, in contrast, delivered that initial punch that made me say, "Oh, yep, that's Earl Grey," and its mousse-like consistency really elevated this chocolate to a new level. The carrot marzipan was also a favorite (carrots in chocolate, who knew?), while the mint chocolate was beautifully complex and well-rounded in a way that I haven't experienced in the past. 

If I were to write about every single chocolate in this box, I might be here for several days (in a chocolate coma). Overall, the selection of candies in this box was an absolute delight. It almost felt like this box could have been a tasting course at a fancy restaurant; you get a little bite of some whimsical and downright wacky flavor combinations, but they all work. I would take a box of these over a wine tasting any day, as they reflected quality craftsmanship and an understanding of high-quality chocolate making. 

I included chocolates with varying price points for this ranking, as well as those that were either sold at grocery stores, department stores, or in the brand's cafes. While I looked at each candy in the box specifically to determine if it had a balanced sweetness, unique texture, and was overall enjoyable, I also tried to look at the entire gift box as a whole. Was the packaging thoughtful and attractive enough to make for a good gift for any occasion? And, were the chocolates well-crafted enough that they would convey that the gifter actually put thought into the selection, rather than haphazardly threw it into their shopping basket?