Best chocolate candy

Top pick: Lindt Lindor truffles. The smoothest, most crowd-pleasing chocolate for the money — milk chocolate shells that melt around a soft truffle centre, and the highest-rated box here by a wide margin. Hard to get wrong as a gift or a treat for yourself.

Who the others suit:

• Li-Lac French Assortment — for someone who wants small-batch, old-school New York chocolates in a proper gift box; the 20-piece two-layer is the easier size to give.
• GODIVA Gold Gift Box — the most polished presentation, best when the box itself is part of the gift.
• Whitman's Sampler or Russell Stover — classic milk-and-dark assortments, the familiar choice for older relatives and office sharing.
• Lindt Gourmet Truffles box — a smaller truffle assortment when you want just a taste.
• Hershey's / Kit Kat / Reese's variety box — for kids, parties and anyone who prefers candy-bar chocolate to truffles.
• FTD chocolate-and-sweets boxes — only if you're sending a same-day gift with pretzels, popcorn and cookies alongside the chocolate.

If you're buying for a specific person, tell me who and I'll narrow it down.