When you think about it, the malted milk ball is an unlikely candy. There are so many flavors in the world which simply cry out to be made into chews or suckers, or to be dipped in chocolate for the happiness of sweet-tooths everywhere. Fruit, vanilla, coffee, caramel… even unmalted, sweetened milk and its richer cousin, cream are obvious contenders. The powdered mixture of milk, wheat and malted barley, originally marketed as late-nineteenth-century baby food, would seem less so.

Yet when I first tried malted milk balls so many years ago at a nearby bulk candy shop, I didn’t find anything strange about them, or think too much about what “malted milk” actually was. I just knew they were darned tasty. That’s probably why the chocolate-coated nuggets have remained popular, despite their unusual basis, for the better part of century.

The most popular name brands of malt balls are Hershey’s Whoppers in the U.S., and Mars, Inc.’s Maltesers in the U.K. I’d always assumed these to be the only brand name representatives of Maltball-kind. On a recent expedition which took me deep into the heart of the CVS candy aisle, though, I discovered a third competitor. An extra-large milk carton of a container bearing the name “Mighty Malts” stared me down from the very top shelf, where – as we know – all the best candies still waiting for their moments in the spotlight are kept.

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The Internet is full of English speakers making fun of the name of Crunky. But hardly anyone ever mentions the fact that this is a REALLY GOOD candy bar. This is the new Crunky with even more crunch and it is even more wonderful than before.

I love chocolate bars with crispy rice in them. But since I’ve become a grownup chocolate snob – er, I mean, “connoisseur” – something like a Nestle’s Crunch doesn’t satisfy me. I have been trying other brands of crisp rice bars for years. For a while I settled down with the Newman’s Own version, but somehow, the love wore off. So for a long time, I was bereft of this category of candy in my life – till I found Crunky.

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You don’t see too many beige-colored candies. Now I know why.

I was visiting my favorite retro candy store when I spotted a candy box marked with the familiar GSK logo. This was intriguing: any candy manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline – the major pharmaceutical company better known for Beano gas-prevention tablets and Breathe Right Strips – had to be amazing, right? Who knows candy better than the people who brought us Aquafresh, the first toothpaste with multiple colors? I just had to try Horlicks Malties.

Looking back, I’m not so sure my decision was wise.

Horlicks is best known in the United States – or at least it was about 70 years ago – for its malted milk balls. This was before someone came along and dunked them in chocolate, a vast improvement.

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Our good friends at Hershey’s are at it again – taking two favorite and much loved products and rolling them into one. In this case it’s the lovely malted balls of Whoppers and the peanut butter filling of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Original Whoppers are a small, crunchy malted milk ball covered with a thin layer of chocolate. These Reese’s versions are exactly the same thing, but the chocolate layer is replaced with peanut butter.

This product is another case of something with a lot of potential which just misses the mark. I busted this cute milk-carton inspired packaging open, threw a few of these in my mouth, chomped down and thought, “Oh.” That’s it. No declarations of my undying love for these, no desire to just pour the rest of them right down my throat (as convenient as the packaging would make that!).

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Am I the only one who is having a hard time realizing it’s December already? It seems the year will be over before we know it! Actually, now that I think about it, I know I’m not alone. I believe Hershey’s knows that the year of the 100th anniversary of Kisses is soon to end and they’re cranking out some new ones to show it!

Enter the new Malt and Chocolate Marshmallow Hershey’s Kisses. I can tell these aren’t made to be associated with the other “holiday” flavors of Kisses because these lack the seasonally decorated packaging. It’s pretty sweet to think that they’re still making these Limited Editions separate from the holiday candies. Many would call that good marketing. Regardless, I’m here to give these newbies a taste!

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