What does Oh Henry taste like?

Since starting this blog, I’ve reviewed many an American chocolate peanut butter bar, but one I hadn’t tried until only recently was Nestle’s Oh Henry! Bar. Until then my only experience with Nestle’s PB bars had been pretty diabolical; I couldn’t stand the sickly sweetness of their Butterfinger bar, but then I hated the Hershey’s version too -5th Avenue- and they’re of course the masterminds behind my beloved Reese’s. Still, I haven’t spotted the Oh Henry!s in any local stores, and wasn’t fussed enough to pay for one to be delivered from American Fizz. Fortunately for me I received a very kind offer from @pretty.vacant on instagram, who had spotted them at her local market and kindly offered to send me a couple of bars towards the end of last year, what a gem!

“2 peanutty caramel fudge bars in milk chocolate.”

I love how the American’s have a tendency to split their standard chocolate bars into two. It’s not because I want (or possess the self-restraint!) to save half for another time, but because I can savour the enjoyment and of course it means that the chocolate ratio is higher -and who doesn’t want that?

Slicing one of the fridge-cold bars in two revealed a distinct layer of fudge topped with a peanut studded caramel enrobed in milk chocolate. There’s something oddly satisfying about a bar so well structured!

Whilst Reese’s chocolate is nothing to shout about, I’m not a fan of Nestle’s chocolate -U.S or U.K for that matter. The casing for the Oh Henry! Bar however was better than expected; that’s not to say that I’d want a bar of it on its own, but it certainly didn’t detract from the other components and imparted a chocolatiness that was more than acceptable.

The fudge layer was just as soft, chewy and sweet as I’d hoped but lacked the characteristic creaminess of Cadbury’s fudge bars. The bottom layer of M&S’s ‘The Nutty One’ was noticeably more luxurious, however the Oh Henry’s fudge held its own far better thanks to the more generous ratio that made up the bars’ composition.

The caramel would have certainly erred on the wrong side of sickliness had it not been for the abundance of chunky chopped peanuts that evenly embedded it. The salinity of the nuts offset the sweetness well though, and brought the flavours back into a far better harmony. Again, the quality of the caramel was pretty standard, but then I guess America’s Oh Henry bar isn’t consumed for its superiority.

Comparatively the Oh Henry! isn’t that similar to a Snickers due to the lack of nougat, but I much preferred the fudge element and would probably always choose it over a Snickers if they were more widely available. All is certainly not lost however as I find myself grateful once again for M&S’s ‘The Nutty One’ which is much more like an inexpensive version of the Oh Henry!

I like this bar and I don't at the same time. I have to say that objectively I like this bar. It's a nice combination of some good quality ingredients. Sure, none of the ingredients are that unique or surprising. Peanut butter, chocolate, caramel, peanuts, and even pretzels have been proven again and again to work together. The ratio of these ingredients is pretty good as well, and that's something many candy companies seem to get wrong. The thing is, I don't really feel like this candy bar is original in any way. It reminds me of a bar I had reviewed a few years back called a Max 5 (I'm not sure if they still make them or not, but here's my review). This Oh Henry bar takes classic candy ingredients and puts a bunch of them together. So objectively this bar works, and it tastes fine with a great deal of credit going to the people who mixed the ingredients and found a pretty good ratio to balance out all the flavours.

The part I really don't like about this bar is the name. More to the point, the expectation I got when I first bit into this bar. It's called “Oh Henry “Level Up””. The implication I get from this name is that it's an Oh Henry bar with a bit more, to the next level. I thought that maybe they took the classic ingredients of an Oh Henry and added some pretzels and peanut butter. The thing is, other than that fact that this bar contains chocolate, caramel and peanuts, this is not an Oh Henry bar at all. It doesn't taste like an Oh Henry bar, it doesn't look like and Oh Henry bar, it's not an Oh Henry bar. For some reason Hershey's decided that they needed to slap the Oh Henry logo on a new bar and sell it as a variant.

I know that variants are all the rage right now, but I'm finding a trend where the variants change the recipe so much that they no longer can be called a variant, and are a new bar on their own. It's fine to make a new bar, in fact I love the idea of candy companies expanding their brands, but I hate being lied to. I feel like Hershey's has lied to me a little with this bar. I was expecting something similar to Oh Henry, and while I got an okay bar, the fact that there's some deception in the marketing leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

What kind of chocolate is Oh Henry?

What is the difference between Oh Henry and Snickers?

What is in an Oh Henry?

What is the difference between Baby Ruth and Oh Henry?