The Review

6 luxury, deep filled mince pies. All butter shortcrust pastry filled with deliciously fruity mincemeat with vine fruits, glacé cherries, brandy and port

‘A fairly good pie. Its flavour came in waves, good, strange, nice, dry, porty. It didn’t offend me but it also refused to invite me in to taste town. Great look on the outside but another cavernous inside.’ – Adam

‘A large, traditional looking pie. Labelled as ‘deep filled’ I have to say I was disappointed when I found my pie was half empty. The filling however has a stronger than normal taste due to the added alcohol and if the pie was full I think it would taste too over-powering for the amount of pastry. The large cavern did mean that my pie was hard to eat without it crumbling too much. Having said all this I enjoyed the taste and the alcohol level was just right for me, unlike the Walkers Glenfiddich pies which left a lingering taste, these didn’t leave an unpleasant after-taste. Good, but could be better.’ – Paul

‘This is a beautifully crafted mince pie, complete with a delightful pastry star on top that sparkles with the dusting of sugar. I struggled to safely eject the pie from it’s foil cup but after a little fiddling it popped out. Whilst other members of review team found their pies half empty, mine was nicely filled. The filling itself had a good moist texture with a hint of alcohol and golden autumn mornings, but the disappointingly dominating taste of the pastry overpowered it. However I was pleasantly surprised how the pasty taste mellowed an became a comforting background aroma that lingered warmly in the mouth long after finishing the pie. All in all, I’m not sure there is enough here to separate these ‘luxury’ pies from M&S’s standard range, but they are still an enjoyable treat if you are willing to pay the premium.’ – Mince Pie Virgin

‘The imagery on the box fulfils the luxury, Yuletide promise and the history of the mince pie is a nice touch (mercifully these 21^st century pies include neither mutton nor ox-tongue). Pie appearance is too hum-drum to support the hedonistic proposition, although the star on top is distinctive. Bite into it (make a wish) and you’re left wondering what a shallow-filled mince pie like look like. There’s a lot of air in there, although, to be fair, the domed top doesn’t help. Good taste though, with definite Port flavour and a sweet finish.’ – Marco