Candy Review: 100 Grand

Friday, January 23, 2009 - by Robby

The 100 Grand bar is a candy bar that I grew up with. So to me, it’s at least 100 years old. But the truth of the matter is that this confection doesn’t even qualify as a Retro Candy Flashback because it debuted in 1966 (I think a candy has to be at least fifty before it gets that privilege).

Having one of the more unique mechanisms for invention, the bar began its life as a byproduct of the then-popular television game show The Big Surprise. In this show, contestants answered questions in order to win a prize that totaled, you guessed correctly, 100 grand. It’s akin to someone issuing a millionaire bar to play off the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? craze a few years back.

The candy originally billed itself as the $100,000 Bar, but the brand we think of today developed in the eighties due to the popular term for that denomination of currency.

In tune with most Nestle products, this one is pretty simple in terms of its ingredients: milk chocolate, caramel, and crisped rice. One unique difference between it and a good portion of Nestle’s confectionery lineup is that this candy still uses real chocolate.

Unwrapping the candy, the log-like pieces are about two-inches in length and are fairly appetizing. The bar is neatly presented, and I can see the rice hidden under the chocolate coating.

Taking a whiff, I get a strong blast of milk chocolate with coffee notes embedded. Taking a bite, you might be surprised about the level of the caramel. Rather than being a chocolate bar with caramel in it, the higher ratio of caramel to chocolate makes this taste like a caramel coated in chocolate.

The caramel, which is slightly sticky, was very fresh and easy to chew. This caramel variety is milky with an aftertaste of vanilla, a splendid complement to the chocolate flavor your tongue encounters first. Note that you really do taste the caramel in this, as opposed to something like a Milky Way, because it’s also quite viscous.

The crisped rice adds a nice textural counter to the chewiness of the caramel and the firmness of the chocolate. My only complaint about it was that the pieces seemed to be relegated to the top and the sides, i.e., they top the caramel with the crisped rice. I wanted a bolder presence of it throughout the bar and wished the pieces were contained within the caramel center.

As far as the chocolate goes, this was the only somewhat disappointing part of the bar. I don’t like Nestle chocolate, and, well, that’s what it is. In this particular instance, due to the milkiness and vanilla of the caramel, their regular, somewhat bitter chocolate just does not suffice. Either a sweeter milk chocolate coat is needed to highlight the caramel, or a more bitter dark chocolate for a nice juxtaposition.

There was a 100 Grand Dark released as a limited edition a few years back, which I actually reviewed, but could only find in after it had surpassed its expiration date. I’m willing to bet that a fresh one would remedy the chocolate problem I have with the classic variety. Until they reissue it, the classic will just have to do. That’s OK, though, since it’s a nice compromise anyway, and is rather tasty.

• 100 Grand Website

Buy 100 Grand Online:

• at Candy Crate
• at Candy Direct
• at Old Time Candy
• at Amazon.com