Moser Roth 8 Nights of Hanukkah Chocolate Calendar

Advent calendars have been a big draw for customers at Aldi during the holiday season for the last several years. Advent is part of the Christian liturgical calendar and involves a season of several weeks of expectation and preparation to celebrate the birth of Christ on Christmas Day. Many retailers these days sell Advent calendars that do not necessarily contain religious symbols or content, and a lot of people simply view them as fun ways to count down to Christmas Day regardless of whether you celebrate in religious or secular ways, or both.

Aldi is constantly rolling out new types of products, and they caught my attention this year when they also offered a Hanukkah chocolate calendar alongside their Advent calendar lineup.

Hanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights, is a Jewish festival that remembers when the Maccabean Jews retook Jerusalem and rededicated the Second Temple during the second century BCE. When those Jews went to light the Temple’s menorah or candelabrum, they discovered there was only enough consecrated oil to last for one day. However, they lit the menorah and the oil lasted for eight days until new oil could be prepared. Now, Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days by lighting candles on a menorah. In 2022, Hanukkah begins on the evening of December 18th and ends on the evening of December 26th.

This year at Aldi, you can purchase an 8 Nights of Hanukkah calendar that features eight days’ worth of premium chocolates. The front of the calendar features a classic image of a menorah, with eight small perforated doors that open to reveal the chocolate.

This calendar is sold under the Moser Roth brand, which is not a separate company but rather is the private label Aldi uses for gourmet chocolate products. Other Aldi products under the Moser Roth label include a luxury pop-up Advent calendar and a truffle Advent calendar.

The Moser Roth 8 Nights of Hanukkah chocolate collection cost $5.99 for a 3.32-ounce box at the time of publication. That comes out to about 75 cents per chocolate.

This is an Aldi Find, so it’s only in stores for a short time. Each store gets one shipment, and after that sells out, it’s gone unless Aldi brings it back next holiday season. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products that aren’t in stock at your local store.

Nutrition information, ingredients, and an illustrated guide to the chocolates inside the box. The chocolates are listed in order if you open the doors from top left to right, then bottom left to right. (Click to enlarge.)

This calendar is a product of Belgium, and the chocolates are, naturally, kosher. The cocoa used in this calendar is Fairtrade certified. The calendar should be stored in a cool, dry place.

The first three chocolate doors. From left to right: Ganache Dark, Apple Cinnamon, and Cappuccino Milk.

The back of the box features an illustrated guide to the chocolates inside, in the order in which they appear if you open the doors from left to right on the top row, then left to right on the bottom row. The doors are not numbered like most Advent calendars are. You get one of each of the following chocolates:

• Ganache Dark with dark chocolate ganache
• Apple Cinnamon with apple paste on top with hazelnut filling and cinnamon
• Cappuccino Milk with cappuccino chocolate cream
• Caramel Mignon with caramel
• Caramel Pallet with milk chocolate ganache with a hint of caramel with Guérande sea salt.
• Crispy Gianduja with gianduja with crisped rice
• Rondello Milk with milk chocolate ganache
• Art Nouveau with ganache with a hint of hazelnut paste

The back of the box also features a pop-out section that functions similar to the stand on the back of a tabletop picture frame. You can pop this piece out and the box — with its menorah image printed on the front — will stand up.

The stand that pops out on the back of the box.

My family and I opened up the box before Hanukkah so we could sample the chocolates for review purposes. The chocolates are what I expected considering they’re from the Aldi Moser Roth line, which tends to be good quality. They’re rich, smooth, and indulgent with a good variety of fillings and flavors. We especially liked the Cappuccino Milk and Apple Cinnamon chocolates and the chocolates with caramel fillings.

Two of our chocolates fell out of their slots in the inner plastic tray inside the box, and we had to crack open the box and slide out the tray to find them. So if you open a door and don’t see a chocolate inside, you might need to disassemble to the box to find it.

If you’re watching out for allergens, this calendar contains milk, soy, and tree nuts (hazelnuts and coconut). It may contain sesame, egg, wheat, and other tree nuts (almonds, pistachios, pecans, and walnuts).

You’re supposed to eat one piece of chocolate per day with this calendar, but the nutrition panel lists three pieces of chocolate as one serving. Three pieces of chocolate contain 150 calories, 10 grams of total fat (13% DV), 6 grams of saturated fat (30% DV), 16 grams of total carbohydrates (6% DV), 12 grams of total sugars, and 11 grams of added sugars (22% DV).

The Verdict:

The Moser Roth 8 Nights of Hanukkah chocolate collection was stocked at Aldi at the same time as the Advent calendars, although this calendar stands out because it celebrates the Jewish festival of Hanukkah rather than observing Advent, which is part of the Christian liturgical calendar. This features 8 days’ worth of premium chocolates with different flavors and fillings. If you celebrate Hanukkah, this is a fun calendar worth getting.