In the blue corner...

Weighing in at a colossal 1.3kg, we have the ultimate picnic maker, the bastion of Britishness, the king of savoury snacks and meaty goodness hailing all the way from the home of posh delicacies and the inventor of the Scotch Egg, Fortnum & Mason, please welcome to the ring the Hand Raised Pork Pie (made with outdoor bred Lincolnshire pork).

Before I start the review, I'd like to thank the lovely people at Reading Room for giving this pie to me as my parting gift. My first thought was how am I going to carry the pie home, but to my luck my good colleagues soon found a solution for this too.

It should also be noted that the comparison of this pie with the others that we have reviewed is like putting Mike Tyson in the ring with Pee-wee Herman, there was only going to be one winner. But then telling you that without elaborating wouldn't put fits of jealousy in the stomachs of those who didn't get to try a tasty morsel (or two) of this magnificent pie.

The look and presentation is as important as the pie itself, so when your pie comes wrapped in an understated plastic cellophane covering you realise this ain’t no supermarket junk. Then you notice the note that declares it has been hand raised since infancy. You take a step back and accept that the pie will do the talking.

We started off in a reserved manner, all sharing small slices, "if you cut that any thinner it'll still be vegan." But it didn't take long for the gannets to arrive, "what, you're having a whole slice, it's not a cake." And very soon had one of the biggest tasting groups ever assembled for such an occasion.

From the very first cut the pastry proved beautifully crisp on the outside morphing into soft and flavoursome on the inside. As one acute taster noted, "ah pork lard, with all the flavours of the pork rainbow." Perfectly balanced all the way through, from flavour to thickness.

Inside we found a densely packed pork filling, comprised of a good high percentage of the finest cuts of hand reared pork and seasoned just the way we like it while retaining that oh so natural taste. What did we expect, no less from this decadent pie, and certainly none of that pork is pink food colouring.

Between the pork and pastry was, as officially described, a "seam of cool jelly". Well proportioned to keep the the pork beautifully moist without upsetting the less traditionally aligned who can't handle their well-jellied pies. It's not often I rate the jelly layer highly.

And then there was no more, 1.3kg or pork and pastry gone to a better home. I was going to give it a 9.5 across the board to keep the competition coming, but then I saw two other reviews with a rating of 9. Rubbish, don't they know how to rate a pie.

Overall rating 11/10.