"limited edition" news and stories

I think that Cybele, who writes Candy Blog, gets a lot of her candy samples from convenience stores, which are more likely to stock the limited edition varieties of bars than the average grocery store. It just so happened that, while on a little bit of a road trip, I spotted this Limited Edition Triple Chocolate Twix in such a store.

The bar had the same milky, sweet chocolate covering that most Twix bars do, but also had a layer of chocolate caramel on top of a chocolate cookie. The cookie went wonderfully in the bar. It had a good chocolate flavor and was very light and tender, especially when compared to the much firmer cookie that is usually included in the candy bar. The caramel did not seem all that chocolaty when eaten alone, but it really tied the chocolate coating in to the chocolate cookie. When taken as a whole, the bar was excellent. It was lighter and more addictive than the standard Twix, with a good balance of chocolate and sweetness. It's hard to say how long a limited edition bar will stick around once it has been released, but this flavor is clearly a winner, so let's hope it is available for more than a couple of weeks.

With the holidays chugging along it's the time of year for giving special gifts to our friends. I like to give spirits to raise my friends spirits during the holidays and this year there are more products available than ever, especially for Scotch lovers with tons of limited edition and special bottlings available. My mouth is watering just reading about them and I am quivering in my seat in anticipation of a taste or three. Here is a baker's dozen that Forbes.com brought to my attention and you can't go wrong with any of these fabulous Scotch's. Just the type of gifts I hope I end up receiving this year. Hint, hint! Some may be beyond your budget (and mine) but we can all dream, can't we?

• Compass Box Oak Cross, Highlands, 43%abv, $40
• Auchentoshen, Lowlands, 55.8%abv, $85
• Talisker 175 Anniversary Edition, Sky, 45.8%abv, $100
• Glenlivet 21 Year Old, Speyside, 52.3%abv, $130
• Bruichladdich Twenty Year Old Second Edition Flirtation, Islay, 46%abv, $185
• Highland Park 1982 Cask No. 443, Orkney, 57.9%abv, $200
• Caol Ila 25 Year Old, Islay, 59.4%abv, $230
• Deanston 30 Year Old, Highlands, 46.7%abv, $260
• Scapa 25 Year Old, Orkney, 54%abv, $300
• Glenmorangie Margaux Cask 1987, Highlands, 46%abv, $450
• Balvenie 1971 Single Cask, Highlands, 47.1%abv, $549
• Bowmore 1968 37 Year Old, Islay, 43.4%abv, $1,000
• Macallan Fifty Year Old Lalique Decanter, Speyside, $5,995

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By now we have firmly established that the end-of-the year is pie season and, while pies are still delicious year round, they are rarely more appreciated. To capitalize on our love of pies in fall, Godiva has released a limited edition American Pie Collection. The 18-piece box features pie-flavored truffles, elegantly painted and shaped into little wedges of "pie." There are a total of eight flavors included:

• Apple Crumb Pie - made with real Granny Smith apples and cinnamon
• Strawberry Pie - features fresh strawberries, sugar and butter, like the summer pie filling
• Key Lime - condensed milk, vanilla and lime juice inside a white chocolate shell
• Lemon Meringue - white chocolate with a meringue-textured lemon filling
• Banana Cream Pie - a mix of banana and vanilla in a white chocolate ganache
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie - combines natural-style peanut butter and chocolate cream
• Chocolate Cream Pie - a 72% chocolate truffle center in dark chocolate
• Pecan Pie - pecans mixed into a molasses flavored milk caramel and mixed with milk and dark chocolate

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It looks like the good people at Reese's have been inspired by the King - Elvis Presley. The new limited edition Reese's have a two-layered filling of peanut butter and banana creme, in a candy rendition of Elvis's favorite peanut butter sandwich. Even if you don't really think too much of Elvis, any combination of peanut butter, bananas and chocolate is bound to be a good one because the elements work well individually, as well as when put together. Junk Food Blog says that they are now available in the US, but gives no indication of where they might have been sold before. The Reese's website doesn't mention them at all. I have yet to see any in my local stores. Were they first released near Graceland? If anyone has had the chance to taste this creation, let us know how they turned out in the comments.

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The Jones Soda Company has been tempting soda lovers for ten years with flavors from Root Beer and Strawberry to Fufu Berry and Blue Bubblegum. Their unusual - and unusually realistic - flavors have taken them from a small niche company, to a national brand, with lines of organic drinks, energy drinks, popsicles and candy in addition to their famous sodas.

To celebrate a decade of drinks, Jones has put together a new limited edition soda pack. Unlike the somewhat disturbing holiday pack, this one is a winner with all its flavors. It includes Blue Bubblegum and Green Apple sodas, as well as two of the original hits, Raspberry and Pineapple Upside Down sodas. The drinks come with a numbered, special-edition Hot Wheels "replica of the original black and silver-flamed Jones vans," which the company used for distribution in its early days.

There will probably be collectors out there who will not open the box to preserve it for posterity, but if you do get one, you really should taste the Pineapple Upside Down soda. It's light, tangy and delicious, so it's no wonder that fans have been asking for it to be reinstated for so long.

This pack won't be sold in stores, but is available for purchase online.

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