 My good friend Harold tried these. He is a connoisseur of the Zinger burger from KFC, and he reports that the flavour is NOT that of a genuine Zinger. Personally, I partake in KFC Zingers so rarely, that this effort does seem like the right fit to me. If they are ever so slightly off on the original taste, what they’ve created is still pretty good. I must warn you, these are HOT. So if you’re not used to your spice, keep some cool water on hand. 6/10  Walkers Max - Kentucky Fried Chicken Well this was a collaboration I never expected. KFC prides itself on its secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices, so after trying these crisps I was desperately scrutinising the ingredients list to try and discern what’s in there. These truly are KFC flavoured - there’s no denying it, they’ve perfected it - the Kernel definitely let them in on the secret. Spicy, salty peppery, with a great tang. I was not expecting these to be good - as usually Walkers roast chicken flavour is always the one from the multipack left sad and forlorn at the bottom of the bag - wholely unimpressive. These on the other hand have tang and pizazz - but they sure are intense and this big pack is probably a bit too much for one person... 8.9/10  Ok now we have the last and highest Hotness level in the Mexican Party range from Mini Cheddars.. The minis are visibly darker from the seasoning so i'm expecting something intense. And you know what - it's intense but for my taste buds not actually as spicy as the Nacho Cheese & Jalapeno flavour labelled as less spicy underneath it - it's funny how different types of spices will effect different taste buds. This a truly smokey, garlicky hit of intense flavour that is truly welcome swimming around in my mouth like a wild dolphin slapping the sides of my cheeks releasing more and more flavour. I'm going to eat a lot of these.. 9/10  Next up in Walkers' Double Crunch range - XXL Chicken & Chorizo. Don't really understand how you can name a flavour with XXL?? but hey! I have to say the flavour is pretty non-descript! You get a definite aftertaste of chicken flavouring (I always found this a bit sickly with Walkers) I'm just not tasting the intense smoky tang of Chorizo here.. it's more paprika than Chorizo (which should really have a bit of chili in it). Not offended, but not bowled over. 5/10  New from McCoy's - a new breed of tortilla chips! They're described as a folded, crispy, tortilla snack. To me they're a strange amalgamation of a pop chip and a nacho although definitely not a corn tortilla - but they have a reasonable crunch to them, it's not a bad format for crisps. The flavouring is in keeping with McCoy's history - FULL ON and intense. I could probably do without the chicken seasoning if i'm honest as I always find it creates a bit of a sickly tinge - but the rest of the flavouring I love. What you really get out of these is smokeyness and a chilli pepper, black pepper spice to round it off. There's a slight sweetness to it which I find always completes a chilli flavour. 7/10  I bloomin love a bit of Buttermilk Chicken and really dig a bit of Sriracha Mayo! Saying that I’m usually pretty underwhelmed by chicken flavour crisps as they usually come across a little sickly - there’s something about roast chicken flavouring that can do that, but this has a real peppery tang to it that brings the chicken up a real treat. The spicy zing that comes from the Sriracha is a really great pairing. These are intense crisps, a real treat for the senses. 9/10  New from Walkers MAX range - STRONG. It looks just a little like they're aiming towards lad culture being named strong and having a pint of beer in the text! The MAX range has been pretty good in my opinion - a deep ridged crisp with intense flavourings, shout out to thai sweet chicken mmmmm! This new version of the range is spicy and to be matched with a pint of geezer lager. They come in three levels of hotness. Hot Chicken Wings is the mid level hotness.. I like my American buffalo hot wings which is what I was expecting here but actually it's very much a british version oh hot wings. The flavouring definitely has the classic roast chicken walkers flavouring which could make you think on first bite that these aren't going to be too spicy.. but there's a kick! It's essentially MAX Flamin hot mixed with roast chicken so a pretty straight forward recipe for Walkers then! That's not to say that these aren't good - they're moreish despite the chilli kick. Nice for a nice cold beer to cool it all off.. 7/10  Yes I'm aware that my crispmas crisp review is.. well just a little late!!!
Oops! There's nothing wrong with celebrating xmas in February is there? Ok it's completely wrong. Maybe that's why this flavour doesn't fit quite right with me.. or maybe because it's a slightly sweet version of roast chicken flavour? Still what was I expecting? Probably exactly that. 3/10  I met these guys on a lovely autumnal day down on Brighton seafront where they were selling their treats and giving tasters to the public.. little did they know that there was a connoisseur amongst the crowd who left with the whole range ready for judgement. Here are the first flavour up on trial, and straight away I can tell that they although the crisps are a little curly - they have been cooked to perfection for maximum crunch. This is a good start. I have to say I'm not a massive fan of Walkers' chicken flavour crisps - they were always the ones left at the end of a multipack so I tend to shy away from chicken flavour. But these really do hit chicken in the right way - as a comforting soup. A chicken soup is naturally pretty salty which is why I think this works so well as a crisp flavour. Not sickly, great crunch and a moreish salty chicken flavour.. not bad ten acre, not bad. 8/10 |
