With unusual fillings like wasabi and paprika, Vosges' Exotic Truffle Collection, costing $40 plus shipping, rated excellent. Vosges also offers a variety of unique chocolates including champagne truffles covered in rose petals, red fire caramel chocolate bars and other exotic bonbons.
Woodhouse's 48-piece Traditional Assortment gift box, which contains truffles, creams, nuts and nut butters, ranked highest among top-tier chocolates. A box costs $90, plus shipping.
"This assortment has great pieces with amazing flavors like cinnamon toast and buttery pecan pie. The flavors just seem to explode in your mouth," said Consumer Reports' Erin Gudeux.
Woodhouse also offers 24-piece boxes for $48 and 12-piece boxes for $24.
While delicious chocolates can be expensive, there are ways to save.
Buying at the chocolate shop can save you the shipping costs. And signing up for a company's newsletter or mailing list can help you find savings, too.
Consumer Reports found the Ferrero Collection Fine Assorted Confections, which are considerably less expensive, to be very good chocolates. The 24-piece gift box costs just $11 and is even sold at drugstores.
"These chocolates were flavorful, and they had crispy interior coatings and crunchy nuts that added interesting textures," said Gudeux.
Remember, freshly made chocolates have a short shelf life of only 10 to 14 days, so your valentine just might need some help finishing the box.
