I mistakenly thought this was a permanent addition to the Kit Kat line-up when I purchased a few of these around Easter. Unfortunately, it looks as if they were a "holiday" release so you are unlikely to find them on store shelves...with the possible exception of the Dollar Tree-type retailers who will stock recently expired can goods and discontinued candy.
(Which reminds me: The town I grew up in featured a "Hostess Thrift Store" adjacent to a supermarket where one could buy Twinkies, Ding Dongs and such on the cheap just because the expiration date on the packaging had passed...as if Twinkies don't last forever! But I digress...)
I still think we need some standardization when it comes to holiday junk food flavors. Right now, we seem to have:
- Halloween (an easy one, though often reviled): Pumpkin spice
- Christmas: Peppermint candy cane and eggnog
- Valentine's Day: Chocolate and strawberry are the forerunners
- St. Patrick's Day: The current favorite appears to be mint, if only for the color
- Easter: Well, this is where there isn't a clear flavor favorite...other than things which are colored yellow and pink (Hello Peeps and See's Candy jelly eggs!). Lemon fits the bill, and it is certainly better than cotton candy...or Peeps...so let's make it official!
But I digress again...
I am definitely a fan of fruit flavors in general and lemon in particular but I recognize that it isn't always easy to get right when it comes to junk food. The sour flavor of Lemonheads wouldn't work inside a cookie, for example, and companies that use artificial flavoring run the risk of making their snacks taste like Lemon Pledge furniture polish. To be honest, that is exactly what I was worried about in the case of these Kit Kats. I mean, the outside coating (usually chocolate flavored) is waxy enough.
To my surprise, the lemon flavor of these Kit Kats was definitely more on the subtle side. It was held back just enough--think lemon creme versus lemon. It didn't taste sour, nor did it taste artificial, and it was light enough to fit just perfect with the wafer cookie and barely-there creme on the inside without overwhelming the other tastes.
As with the prior blueberry Kit Kats, I do hope that Nestle eventually decides to make Lemon Crisp available all year long...that way, you can find them in your Easter baskets, Halloween candy buckets and Christmas stockings! Just not on Valentine's Day...that would be weird.
RATING: 4 / 5
