Crisp rice has always been a favorite staple of mine in the various niches of candy out there. Krackle, Crunch, and of course, 100 Grand all come to mind. It’s never been a candy I think has been fully pushed to its amazing potential, and since the retirement of the Caravelle Bar, I don’t think the world has had any close competitors to assume that challenge.
Regardless, I still like Krackle and 100 Grand bars a great deal (and to a lesser extent Crunch). I just always wished there could be something more to them. I would be willing to try anything that could give crisp rice bars the success they deserve. And in this case, anything meant purchasing the Limited Edition 100 Grand Dark Bar from a candy bin at the Dollar Tree Store, a product that had ceased to be marketed about two years ago.
Like so many candies I didn’t get to try, this one debuted while I lived outside of the U.S., and had made a quick exit before I had the chance to return. But the fact that it had long since expired did little to dissuade me from ripping open the wrapper.
For its age, the bar smells pleasant with a strong, but not overpowering chocolate aroma. Each piece is about 2 inches long, a half-inch in height, and colored with a lighter shade of brown one would expect as a milk chocolate coating. When in its prime, the chocolate probably retained a darker hue.
The inside of this bar is grainy with what would normally be a flowing strip of caramel. Despite the fact that the inner portion had congealed, it was still remarkably pliable and easy to bite into.
Right away I can taste the age of the chocolate, and the rice has lost most of the crispness a normal 100 Grand Bar possesses. As for the caramel, it is slightly sweet and is only marred with sandy texture that lasts into a long chew.
The biggest highlight of this bar turned out to be the chocolate taste. Most likely a result of the dark chocolate retaining a higher cocoa concentration than its milk counterpart, the intensity of the chocolate has weathered time well to be infused with a bold opulence of flavor.
In the end, the thing I craved most was hardly present in the candy. I can’t fault anyone but father time for that, as I believe if I had purchased this bar two years ago, it could possibly have catapulted itself to the top of my list of favorite crisp rice candy bars due to the vastly more tasty dark chocolate coating. I don’t know if I will ever find a crisp rice bar to satisfy my craving, but one can only hope Nestle fathoms the possible greatness of this bar, and decides to reissue it as a permanent addition to their confectionery lineup.
Mmmm; I’ll never be able to resist this limited edition!!!
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:52 ami love these dark chocolate versions of classic candy bars.
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:49 pmRobby, I’m curious about your take on the Nestle Crunch with Caramel bars.
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:13 pmMonica, I think in theory it works, but I tend not to be a giant fan of crunch bars in general because I dislike their chocolate. I have had the dark chocolate caramel crunch bars, another limited edition, but they weren’t as good as I hoped. My favorite Crunch are the White Chocolate (it’s not hard to make white chocolate taste good) and Crisp bars. Caramel-filled isn’t bad, but I am still looking on the horizon for the amazing one….
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:32 pmI agree about the Krackle. Its my favorite to date. I absolutely hate the Nestle Crunch because its too sweet and the chocolate isn’t as smooth like Hershey. Hershey use to have those “big” bars that were unusually thick. You could find your favorite Hershey bar in a big size at some grocery stores and every conv. store. I don’t know what happened but Hershey quit the big bars of our favorites. In fact when they stopped, they put the Krackle back to the assorted miniatures only:( That makes me buy a whole bag of Hershey’s miniatures just for the Krackle and I do because they are well worth it. I’m tired of buying the assorted miniatures just for the Krackle so I wrote to Hershey about it. I don’t know if anything will ever come of it but it doesn’t hurt to try. So, if you’re a Krackle fan and want a regular size bar, go to Hershey’s website and tell them so. If it were up to me, I’d make the Krackle in the Giant Size bar. Ha!Ha! That would be awsome for us Krackle lovers but I’ll settle for a regular size bar and be thankful.
Butterfinger use to be a really good bar if you could find a fresh one. Unfortunately, Nestle has the candy bar and put their chocolate on it…too sweet. The original Mars Bar with the almonds use to be a great candy bar until someone got the bad idea to put caramel in it. I couldn’t ever do bars with caramel. Baby Ruth…wonderful salty nutty bar with a milk chocolate was my brother’s favorite candy bar. I never see the full size bar anymore, just the miniatures. Remember the Stixx Candy? I couldn’t go to school without one for recess. Everyone had them, either cinnamon or green apple. The cinnamon Stixx were really good but too hot for me so most of the time I’d get the green apple. Gotta go. Its been fun. Don’t forget to write Hershey about making a regular size Krackle Candy Bar for us fans. Lori
December 15th, 2008 at 12:51 am