part of the joy of being a known junkfood junkie is that friends, neighbors and well-wishers often contribute to your stockpile of goodies. the downside is, those of us with very little willpower have a tough time keeping myself from blowing through 18 lbs of chocolate in the course of a weekend.

at any rate, none other than Caramel Apple Hershey's Kisses showed up on my desk this morning. what a thrill! regular caramel hershey's kisses were one of the first variants to debut a few years ago, and remain one of my favorites. i vastly prefer rich, buttery, flowy caramel to the sticky/chewy variety, so these are right up my alley.

reports are that these are now available in the seasonal dept of your local Wal*Mart. but enough free advertising-- how do these taste?

caramel hershey's kisses were one of the first variants to debut a few years ago, and remain one of my favorites. i vastly prefer rich, buttery, flowy caramel to the sticky/chewy variety, so these are right up my alley.

the caramel apple edition kicks it up a notch (#$(#$ you, emeril) by adding a healthy dose of artificial apple flavor. i gotta say, fake or not, i think these are pretty damn good. the caramel is rather liquidy and tastes like a big ol' granny smith, with some floral notes and a juicy tartness that is fairly convincing. maybe a little too strong for the average consumer, but it reminds me of Charm's Caramel Apple Pops, which i also adore.

so, hershey's is apparently on a roll with their limited editions right now, as i've enjoyed both these and the Pumpkin Spice. well, except for the vile candy corn variety, which are ridiculously cute but taste like you've been huffing a can of Pam non-stick artificially flavored butter spray. bleh.