My previous exploration of Necco’s old-fashioned candy mix yielded a strike of gold with the Clark Bar. However, within that package were two other candies: Necco Wafers – more like coal than gold – and Banana Split.
I have heard of Banana Split and its counterpart Mint Julep, but never had the opportunity or desire to sample one. Like the Clark Bar, this candy is regional in its abundance, probably being highly concentrated around the Atlantic seaboard where Necco is headquartered.
Had these not been included in the bag of Clark Bars, I probably would not have bought them separately. But since they came along for my Clark Bar adventure, I thought I would give them a try.
Each piece is relatively standard in terms of size for a fruit chew (think of Now and Later for a good comparison). When stripping the candy of its yellow paper wrapper, I smell the faint aroma of artificial banana, such as in banana Laffy Taffy or Circus Peanuts.
The piece is soft, especially for taffy, which is a welcome change. As for taste, it is highly waxy with a mild banana flavor, far less potent than most banana-flavored candies on the market. I am not sure if this is exactly a good thing since the weakness in flavor allows for the strength of the wax to be more detectable.
Also different from most taffy, the chew dissolves easily without it sticking in your teeth. If you’re a fan of taffy, but despise that aspect of the confection, you might really enjoy these solely on that merit.
I wasn’t blown away by these, but didn’t hate them either. These are the sort of candies that you keep a bowl of on your coffee table so that people eat them, but don’t feel like eating more than a few pieces. If Clark Bars are gold and Necco Wafers are coal, then these fall somewhere in between – topaz, if you will.
My only complaint about this candy that I think should be voiced is the name. The name (and picture) implies that this is a Banana Split candy. Aren’t banana splits bananas covered in ice cream with whipped cream, nuts, and cherries? I don’t know how one begins to combine all those flavors in a piece of candy, but this didn’t even attempt to. It was purely a banana candy, which leads me to want to start an online petition to rename this candy.
Buy Banana Split Online:
- at Candy Direct
- at Old Time Candy
- at Amazon.com
These are one of my favorites. I love them when they get a little stale and have a harder chew to them; Mint Juleps too!
October 16th, 2008 at 8:29 am