And then there was U-No. This is the fourth and final oddly-named retro bar in my mini-cycle of candy that spiraled out of a dream I thought I had about overhearing a woman speaking to her husband when in New York City. (The other three candies are Oh Henry! Look!, and the 5th Avenue bar.)

Unlike those other three bars, I had U-No as a kid. And I remember liking it. So today we’ll see if I’m transported back to those halcyon days of rare treats, or caught in a transporter with a fly, like Jeff Goldblum, with disastrous consequences. And really, I’m a little worried, because my childhood taste was far from infallible.

Two things I didn’t realize growing up: U-No’s have powdered buttermilk and crushed almonds in them. That might have freaked me out at 8, but it intrigues me now.

So, will I still like this unique candy in the lunar-module, super-shiny wrapper?

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Hey everybody, Look! It’s the second candy bar in my four-bar round-up of some oddly named candy that includes Oh Henry!, 5th Avenue, and U-No.

Look! candy bars are made by the Annabelle Candy Company, a San Francisco bay-area concern founded in 1917 by Russian immigrant Sam Altshuler, and named after his daughter (the company, not the bar. His daughter’s name was not “Look!”). (And yes, you’re right, there was a spot of bother that year in Russia.)

Annabelle candy bars are best-sellers in western states, and include the Rocky Road, Big Hunk, Abba-Zabba and U-No bars. Today’s item, Look!, was invented in the 1950’s by the Golden Nugget Candy Co., which Annabelle acquired in 1972. I doubt you’ve ever had a candy bar quite like this. And there may be a good reason.

Here’s how Annabelle describes these bars: “Thick chewy nougat sweetened with molasses,” with “roasted peanuts covered with mouth watering rich dark chocolate.”

We’ll see.

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One of the new candies unveiled at this year’s All Candy Expo was this new twist on a classic candy: the Abba-Zaba Chocolate Cream center. When Brian told me about his find on the showroom floor I couldn’t help but respond by asking a gazillion questions about it. For me, a new addition to the Abba-Zaba family was big, big news.

The original Abba-Zaba is a sweet taffy with a stripe of peanut butter running down the center. There’s also a Sour Apple variety with the taffy carrying the flavor and the peanut butter center remaining intact. What I found most exciting about this new Abba-Zaba was the replacement of the peanut butter with “chocolate cream” (ok, so it’s really mockolate), which sort of takes away the consistent component of the candy. I was curious to see if this hurt the formula of the bar at all.

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“They’re here, they’re finally here!” my tummy yelled when a box of Annabelle’s new Rocky Road Supreme bars found their way to my doorstep. I had luckily sampled these at last year’s All Candy Expo when they were still just prototypes. Regardless of the fact that they weren’t finished tweaking the formula, I knew what I was eating was extremely tasty, so I patiently waited until they would be ready to be consumed by the masses.

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Like a true Candy Addict, when I hear the word “Rocky Road” my mind doesn’t jump to ice cream, but instead lands on the candy bar of the same name. Rocky Road is a classic candy made by Annabelle Candy Company, who are the same makers of my beloved Big Hunk and also Abba Zaba. Rocky Road was Annabelle Candy’s first original candy bar, which debuted around 1950. It’s a big seller in its home state of California, where it remains one of the top 40 best selling candy bars.

What makes the Rocky Road so special? Well, it’s a unique combination of flavors to start. Take fresh marshmallow, then layer on some bits of roasted cashews before covering the whole thing in milk chocolate. A classic no matter how you look at it: original, simple and tasty. Over the years Rocky Road has tried on new flavors. Today you can find a Dark Chocolate and Mint variety. This newest version is called “Double Dipped Bits” and they are basically smaller sized Rocky Road bars in movie theater sized boxes.

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