I'm always a bit wary of selection packs, since I'm fairly picky with my biscuits (though this is usually fine, since other members of my family will happily consume any of the ones I don't like!)
This pack seems to literally have something for everyone; there are
plain biscuits, ones with jam, ones with cream and ones with chocolate (in my experience, these disappear first!) So they would be ideal to bring to events where you don't know what people will like. Hopefully there should be something everyone can enjoy!
The Product
I've added a picture that I took of the different types of biscuit you get, as sometimes they can look very different to those artistically placed for the packing shot!
White chocolate rings (quantity: 2) - A fairly soft biscuit, covered in a fairy generous layer of really tasty white chocolate. There is a drizzling of dark chocolate
on the biscuit, but you can't taste it so I assume it's for aesthetic purposes only (I would be able to detect any strong hints of dark chocolate as I don't like it!)Dark chocolate rings (quantity: 3) - Satisfying soft, thick
shortbread biscuit, enveloped in a fairly generous layer of good quality dark chocolate.
Chocolate sandwich (quantity: 3) - Two golden crispy biscuits, stuck together with a layer of solid milk chocolate. They look really nice; the biscuits are oblong and ridged, and the chocolate overspills slightly to give the sandwich effect. The biscuit is fairly crisp, and makes a nice crunchy sound, but isn't too hard. There's also a strong taste of coconut from the biscuit.
Double chocolate sandwich (quantity: 3) - Look similar to the chocolate sandwiches (see above for description) but instead of golden biscuits, the biscuits are chocolate! The ridge pattern is slightly different, but they are still held together by a layer of milk chocolate. The biscuits are much softer, and don't crunch nearly as much when bitten into. The taste of coconut is also absent.
Nice cream sandwich (quantity: 4) - Two Nice biscuits (plain biscuits with a light sprinkling of sugar and the word 'nice' engraved on them) sandwiched with just a normal crème centre. Look very neat, make a nice crunch but aren't too hard.
Milk chocolate clover (quantity: 2) - Very crispy biscuit, makes a nice crunch, that isn't really soft at all. More of a honeycombed effect. A fairly generous milk chocolate layer coats the biscuit (pretty good quality chocolate) and again an artistic drizzling of dark chocolate that you can't taste.
Milk chocolate squares (quantity: 3) - A nice soft, satisfying biscuit covered by a layer of milk chocolate. No fuss, just perfection.
Milk chocolate circles (quantity: 3) - A thin hard and crispy biscuit with a layer of milk chocolate on the top (again a fairly generous coating). I thought that I'd like this one, since it was a milk chocolate, but the biscuit doesn't leave you feeling as though you've eaten anything (although I expect the calories count!). I was disappointed with this one since it looked to tempting.
Jammy dodgers (quantity: 2) - Two pretty thick shortbread-like biscuits, that are very soft and have just a delicate crunch, are sandwiched together. There's a dollop of jam in the middle (a hole is cut out of the top biscuit so you can see it) and sugar is sprinkled on top of the jam so it isn't sticky. Outside the central dot of jam, cream sticks the biscuits together.
Ginger snap sandwich (quantity: 3) - Two ginger snap biscuits (crumbly, crunchy biscuits) are sandwiched together with a very thick layer of cream. The ginger taste is definitely there, but not overpowering and won't be burning your mouth for hours to come!
Circular sandwich (quantity: 3) - Two crumbly, crunchy golden biscuits (the consistency of ginger snaps) sandwiched together with a very thick layer of cream.
Orange shortbread (or 'golden foil mystery') (quantity: 2) - Thick shortbread biscuit (very soft, and just the right crunchy texture). There's a layer of orange cream on top of the biscuit, and it's all covered in a smooth generous layer of tasty milk chocolate. The biscuit is wrapped in golden foil square so you can't see which one you're picking up. As soon as you've unwrapped it you can just about smell the orange, but the sweet orange taste isn't too overpowering.
Packaging
The biscuits are housed in a black plastic tray, with twelve holes (one for each type of biscuit) which is fairly thin, but it's probably best to transfer any leftovers to an airtight container or biscuit tine (assuming any are left!)
The tray is then wrapped in a dark blue thick plastic wrapper. There is a large picture of the biscuits on a plate (which is a very accurate representation of what you get, they did look virtually exactly like that, only with a few crumbs from where they'd be jostled around in transit.
The packaging is sleek and elegant.
It clearly states the weight of the product (400g estimate), that it is suitable for vegetarians, the best before date and how many varieties there are in the pack. The address and phone number for queries or complaints are clearly marked in pretty large text on the back.
Though the picture shows each biscuit clearly, you can't tell what the flavours are going to be until you bite into them as there is nowhere that gives you a list of what the biscuits are. I was surprised to bite into the chocolate sandwich and taste coconut, so it might be offputting if you get a flavour you don't like.
Also there is NO mention whatsoever of the nutritional content. No colour coded pie charts that usually leap out at you from Sainsbury's products, and not even a table to tell you how many calories, and how much fat and sugar each of those biscuits contain. You can expect it to be high, though and as such these should be a treat product.
Value for Money
While you are getting twelve varieties of biscuit, there are inevitably some you don't like. Unfortunately if everyone doesn't like the same biscuit some may be discarded. Sainsbury's charged £2.49 for this selection tray, and that's a fairly good price for so many biscuits of such quality, but if they're not your favourites it seems a little off putting to pay so much for ones you only 'like' rather than 'prefer'.
So while these may be an excellent choice for meetings, parties or other places where there will be lots of people and
nibbles are required as you're sure to have something everyone likes, for normal households it may be better (and cheaper) to simply buy a pack of your favourites. That way you know you'll like every last crumb!
Nutritional Information
None mentioned. The first (and therefore highest in content) ingredients on the list include: wheat flour, sugar, milk chocolate (16%),
vegetable oil and hydrated vegetable oil. You can tell these would be at the higher end of the calorie and fat content spectrum.
Allergies
The product contains wheat, milk, egg and Soya; and is also produced in an environment where cross contamination with nuts is likely, so is also unsuitable for nut allergy sufferers.
How it Compares to Other Brands
If I had not known this was an own brand selection I could easily have believed it was a premium brand name product. They haven't skimped on the chocolate or cream, and the chocolate they do use tastes very good quality.
Conclusions
This is a great product for events to cater for different tastes. The quality and wide selection of biscuit types justify the price tag. The quality of the products was unexpectedly high for an own brand product, and they could be compared to other leading premium brands easily. They also used a generous amount of chocolate and cream. They'd make a great treat!
However the lack of information regarding the nutritional content of these biscuits is worrying.
Pictures
I've uploaded a few pictures of the pack I bought recently; one of them in the black tray exactly as how they come out of the blue packaging, one of the 12 different varieties on a plate and another with three of my favourites on a plate with my coffee!
Acknowledgments
To the members of my family that just HAD to try the ones for me that I didn't like and give me their opinions on them! (I wasn'
t short of volunteers!)
Chocolate and Cream Delight! 
I love the double chocolate sandwich ones! Great review, Caroline xx