REVIEW: Nabisco Kettle Corn Oreos

This is Part 2 of our new series: “We Did This to Ourselves.”

Last year, Oreo held the #MyOreoCreation contest. Fans were encouraged to submit their flavor ideas with rules that were loose at best.

From the official contest rules: “Enter by texting your idea that captures the next creation or essence/inspiration of a creation that an Oreo cookie should capture.” One of their actual examples was “singing in the rain,” and the by-laws restricted sexually explicit or suggestive submissions. All of my submissions were now null and void.

Faced with endless opportunity so long as it didn’t give you a boner, we landed on three finalists. Two of them are drinks, and one is popcorn. You see what happens when we’re left to our own devices?

Ladies and gentleman… this is review two of three.

Kettle Corn Oreos

Nabisco Kettle Corn Oreos

Kettle Corn Oreos feature the golden wafer with a kettle corn flavored creme and puffed millet bits. I Googled “puffed millet bits” and was directed to hundreds of sites selling bird food. That’s all I have to say about that.

Kettle Corn Oreos have some sneaky potential, but it’s clear that Oreo had to sift through some real shit suggestions to land here. I mean, popcorn flavored cookies sound awfully.. bland, do they not?

Their bread and butter will be their sweet & salty, though I struggle to conceive how much different they’ll be from Waffles & Syrup Oreos or Salted Caramel Oreo Thins – the both of which I found underwhelming.

The Oreos smell like kettle corn at a carnival – a carnival where all the freaks come out to suggest very uninspired Oreo flavors with hopes to win a grand prize. They panic, and suggest bird food.

The bird-food in the creme makes for a thick and fluffy creme – which should serve as a strength for these Oreos.

Kettle Corn Oreos are good cookies. In fact, they are very good cookies. But they really do feel like a mishmash of similar Oreos that we’ve had before.

They are buttery, but not as buttery as Waffles & Syrup Oreos. They are salty, but not as salty as Salted Caramel Oreo Thins. They are sweeter than both the aforementioned, but not as sweet as Marshmallow Crispy Oreos – of which they share another likeness with the puffed millet bits acting identically to the crisped ripe. There are traces of brown sugar reminiscent of Choco Chip Oreos, and a surprising maple that circles back to Waffles & Syrup Oreos.

These are very good cookies with an identity crisis.

What I must admit freely – despite my reservations and criticisms – is that the ratio of all elements used is perhaps the best yet. With the exception of the untouchable Marshmallow Crispy, they are a “Best in Class” of the Oreos they most directly compete with. They should win this contest with ease.

While Kettle Corn Oreos lack the “it” factor that would make them top tier, there’s no denying it…

This bird food is delicious.

Using Four Different Oreos to Describe One Oreo Rating: 9 out of 10
Puffet Millet Rating: SQUAWK out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 out of 10