JOE’s definitive ranking of Ireland’s 40 best chocolate bars

Our list needed to be updated after No.7 was... discontinued.

It probably goes to show you that Drifter wafers were on their way out when it took some folks five years to notice the chocolate bars were not on shelves any more. An online flurry, prompted by some reminiscing on social media, led to Nestle confirming that Drifter was not in their chocolate rotation any more. The company stated:

'Sorry to have to give you disappointing news, unfortunately the Drifter bar has been discontinued from our range.'

Back in 2018, not long before that big decision was made, Drifter made it to No.7 on our list of Ireland's 41 best chocolate bars. Given the season that is in it, we have updated the list to the Top 40, curated by master choc-inista Tony Cuddihy. There is now a new entry to the Top 10, jumping all the way up from 12th in that original list.

Ireland's 40 best chocolate bars

40. Fry's Chocolate Cream Your granny loves them. 39. Turkish Delight Tastes like flowers. 38. M&Ms 37. Time Out Wafer Lovely with a cup of tea. Rebranded from a bar to a 'wafer' in 2016. 36. Picnic Jack of all trades. 35. Lion Bar A poor man's Toffee Crisp. 34. Curly Wurly 33. Whole Nut Another mammy's favourite. 32. Yellow Snack 31. Galaxy Caramel A bit sickly, no? 30. Peanut M&Ms A good cinema snack with popcorn. Pointless otherwise.   29. Mint Aero 28. Caramello Smooth. 27. Cadbury's Fruit and Nut 26. Mint Crisp Divisive. Mint chocolate is not for everyone, but we'd be a fan. 25. Yorkie Good n' chunky. Better when it used to have seven pieces. 24. Yorkie Raisin & Biscuit 23. Toffee Crisp After lunch, with a brew. Get it done. 22. Bounty Grand. That's about it. 21. Galaxy Smooth Milk It's no Dairy Milk. 20. Golden Crisp Quite likely to be your da's favourite bar. Solid. 19. Purple Snack Small, but versatile. 18. Aero 17. Wispa Gold One for the non-traditionalists among you. Changed to 'Salted Caramel' in 2021. 16. Kit-Kat Chunky Solid. 15. Crunchie Is it Friday yet? 14. Maltesers Can drag this one out, or just wolf 'em down. 13. Wispa The campaign to bring them back in 2007 was completely justified. Who doesn't love a Wispa?

12. Rolos 

The only problem is having to share the bastardin' things.

11. Twirl

We strongly urge you to make a cup of tea (or coffee), bite off the ends of a Twirl and use it as a straw. Messy, but worth it.

10. Flake

Anyone else fancy a 99?

9. Star Bar

Narrowly misses out on a top ten spot, but never lets you down.

8. Double Decker

Vastly underrated, substantial and tasty.

7. Cadbury's Caramel

6. Kit-Kat

So good.

5. Snickers

4. Boost (formerly Moro)

Biscuit, caramel, more biscuit, chocolate... Fully deserving of its place in the top five.

3. Twix 

You want a Twix right now, don't you?

2. Mars Bar

It came THIS close to taking the top spot, beaten only by another classic...

1. Dairy Milk - the best bar in Ireland

When you're this good, you don't need frills. The bar against which all other chocolate bars are judged.

Our number one is the Dairy Milk.

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