Today continues the trend from the last review, Milky Way Caramel Apple, where “Autumn”-themed candy gets lumped in with Halloween-themed candy. Unless it’s a Jones Soda-type Thanksgiving flavor, Halloween and Christmas are the only end of the year holidays that get their own candy theme.
One exception: if you would like to send me free candy, to be reviewed after Halloween but before Christmas, I will make an exception. I’m easily persuaded by free candy, which explains the numerous kidnapping attempts made on me as a child.
Pumpkin Spice Hershey’s Kisses aren’t new, but they are new to me. In previous years, they either received limited distribution from Hershey, or received limited attention paid by me. History shows I should assume the latter is the reason.
Full disclosure off the bat: it is taking a lot of willpower to call them “Hershey’s Kisses”, since when referring to them, I always just call them “Hershey Kisses”. But if there is one thing this site is known for, it is my adamant belief that accuracy is of utmost importance. Hershey’s Kisses are always one of those “Oh, there they are” candies, that I don’t get excited for, but will occasionally be happy that they are around. This is mostly when it’s the almond or dark chocolate Kisses. Almost all of the others, I won’t bother with.
I also need to specifically mention that the Cherry Cordial Kisses are disgusting. Which is somewhat odd, since I like actual cherry cordials. But I guess based on the taste, Hershey decided to add Robitussin to the ingredients, which put me off eating them.
Back to the matter at hand (Pumpkin Spice Kisses, in case you forgot), I mostly bought these because I’m a sucker for anything pumpkin-flavored. Not actual pumpkin flavor, since that’s pretty disgusting by itself – “pumpkin” flavored would be the more accurate term.
When I found the bag, I was happy until I looked closer. The depiction of the Kiss on the bag showed it being orange, with a cream-colored center. Orange-colored chocolate meant in all likelihood, this Kiss was going to be made of white chocolate. Ugh. White chocolate is always the (oh no… I swear this is unintentional) kiss of death of death for me. It’s vile.
Intrepid investigator that I am, I still soldiered on.
Unwrapping the Kiss, I am met with what appears to be the orange piece from the board game “Sorry”. It has an incredibly unnatural appearance, due to both the color and shine. It literally looks like a small candle.
As you can see, the very soft texture made my fingerprint embed into the surface despite my applying almost no pressure. I would highly discourage you from using one of these as a murder weapon, because you will be caught.
The white chocolate shell provides a creepy, mushy bite, revealing its creamy white innards. The first flavor is a brief flash of white chocolate unpleasantness. However, that is quickly washed away by the overwhelming “pumpkin” flavor. That’s “pumpkin” in extreme quotation marks.
Pumpkin-flavored foods often overdo it with the spices. The logic presumably being “just carpet bomb them with spices, and they will be reminded of Fall!” This line of thinking was definitely in place for the creation of Pumpkin Kisses. The pumpkin flavor is just overwhelming, and rather strange.
Between the appearance, the white chocolate flavor, and the very artificial-tasting pumpkin flavor, everything about the Kiss looks and tastes fake.
I still have approximately sixty more of these in the bag, and I’d say the likelihood of me eating any more is extremely low. I’d give them out on Halloween, but I don’t want kids to come back and vandalize my house after eating them.
Diet Coke-Babies 
they *totally* look like the Sorry game piece!! that is too weird!
They don’t taste as good as the Sorry pieces, though.
I totally agree. I was very excited to try these, and immediately dissapointed by the taste, smell, color, and texture. Did anyone test these before inflicting them on the paying public?
After doing this, I Googled a few reviews, and found a surprisingly mixed bag.
Maybe it has to do with liking white chocolate or not? Although even if you like white chocolate, you’re still left with the weird filling taste. And aftertaste, more importantly. I was tasting these things for forty minutes.
I like white chocolate, and these kisses are a far cry from white chocolate, they’re more like playdough…
I was surprised by how mushy these were. None of the filled Kisses I’ve had came close to this. The first one I unwrapped, I crushed, since I wasn’t expecting it to be so soft. Although it did make me feel really strong.