Oh Henry! – Reese’s Peanut Butter
Oh Henry! is a classic candy bar over here in Canada. I’m not sure about outside, but most of us who grew up in the Frigid North will instantly recognize this classic, whether you liked it or not. It was a relatively simple concept; peanuts, caramel and chocolate. What could go wrong? Reese is also another classic heavy hitter, which has maintained strong popularity ever since. I’d argue it’s got more worldwide appeal to than Oh Henry!, which probably has to compete with other local and regional brands. Something about Reese’s formulation makes it unique and ever so difficult to replicate.
Sadly, one of the problems with traditional and classic snacks is that overtime they become boring and stale to some, as they get tired of the never-changing nature. That’s why these candy bars are always coming up with new, interesting ideas. Whether they work or not is another issue entirely. Reese lately has been going a little bonkers, with strange combos of their classic peanut butter cups with their pieces. I’ll go over that in a different review. Today’s product is a mash up of Oh Henry! and Reese – they took the classic formula of chocolate, caramel and peanuts and threw in peanut butter into the mix. Does it sound like overkill? Absolutely. Am I going to try it anyways? You bet.
It feels like these days they’re coming up empty in terms of truly unique and creative ideas. It makes sense, when you consider how long the brand has been around and the fact that people love them because it has the perfect combo or ratio of things in it. You mess with that, and you potentially end up with an abomination of a mess. Being the scientist and explorer that I am though, I have to wade through these potential disasters to find gems and potential keepers in these candy bar line ups. All so you don’t have to. The things I do for you guys.
While I haven’t had an Oh Henry! bar in a long time, I do have fond memories of the bar. Reese has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, so I don’t anticipate any issues there. My only concern is how much peanut is going on here. Peanut butter with peanuts? What madness is this?!
Visually, the bar looks the same on the outside. Not that I was expecting it to look any different. A cross section of this bar also looks fairly similar to a normal Oh Henry! bar with all the nuts and caramel covered by a layer of milk chocolate. The caramel looks to take up little space though, as the centre seems to be a thick shape of peanut butter. These smell quite nice, so I’m just going dive right in.
The texture is very similar to the classic Oh Henry! bar- you have to the thin layer of chocolate covered the crunchy peanuts, and the center is a nice chewy, almost thick caramel layer, before being greeted by that oh-so-familiar Reese peanut butter. The whole thing comes together quite well and turns into a delightful chewy mass of peanut and caramel. The caramel isn’t hard, but it’s not runny like the stuff you find inside of a caramel filled chocolate. It’s a bit chewy like a soft caramel or taffy. The caramel didn’t strike me as very sweet, at least not compared to the rest of the bar. It seems more of the sweetness is coming from the Reese peanut butter center, which provides most of the flavour, and yet doesn’t overpower the rest of the bar. The flavours work well together, even if the whole experience comes off a bit rich. Similar to the normal Oh Henry! bars, the caramel can get stuck to your teeth if you’re not careful. Not a problem for a seasoned and experienced consumer of sticky products, but just a heads up for you amateurs.
I for one enjoyed this experience. The downside is it’s a bit on the rich side, with so much going on, but if you are craving some peanuts, this would probably fill you up quite easily. I’m not sure if it’s just the normal Oh Henry! bar I miss, or if it’s this particular one with the extra peanut butter, but I am reminded of why this bar is a classic. I would recommend this bar to anyone who likes peanuts, or is a fan of Oh Henry!. Fans of Reese may not enjoy this, so fair warning. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to shame eat the rest of this pouch.
