Review of the new Walkers sandwich crisps

Walkers crisps have brought out some wacky new sandwich flavours and I was delighted to be nominated (by myself) to taste all six of them – all in the name of science of course.

Now I LOVE both sandwiches and crisps, so rather than recoil at the strangeness I was really quite excited. Rather than do the right thing and sell all six bags in one multi-pack, Walkers are making us buy two six pack selections in order to try each flavour.

So Bag One contains:

2 x Roast Chicken & Mayonnaise
2 x Bacon & Tomato Ketchup
2 x Cheese Toastie & Worcester Sauce

Whilst Bag Two contains:

2 x Cheese, Cucumber & Salad Cream
2 x Sausage & Brown Sauce
2 x Ham & Mustard

Twelve bags in total. All in the name of science.

I’m a big mayo fan so went straight for Bag One and the Roast Chicken and Mayonnaise. I was most excited about these but the reality was disappointing. Yeah they were nice but they mainly tasted like standard Roast Chicken. There was certainly a hint of something ‘different’ but for a connoisseur of fatty condiments (like me) it didn’t taste that much like mayonnaise.

Next Bacon and Tomato Ketchup which didn’t sound great. I dislike ketchup and bacon doesn’t always work well as a crisp flavour (excluding Frazzles of course which are so amazing I could eat disgusting amounts until my tongue bled). Anyway. This flavour just reminded me of the ketchup flavour Walkers brought out years ago when pulling another publicity stunt and it overpowered the bacon somewhat. Not my cup of tea.

The last flavour of Bag One, which excited me due to cheese content – Cheese Toastie and Worcester Sauce. Similarly to the ketchup there was an overpowering taste of Worcester Sauce which gave the crisps a spicy, tangy taste. Definitely preferable to eating something healthy and nicer than the bacon and ketchup but a poor substitute for other, nicer crisps on the market.

Bag One verdict: 2.5/5

Bag Two and again straight to the most appealing flavour – Cheese, Cucumber and Salad Cream (yes I’m a freak). But this time I was impressed! This was the first bag that actually tasted somewhat like it claimed. I could definitely taste both cucumber and salad cream, along with a pretty prominent and cheese flavour. Definitely my favourite so far.

Next I went with Sausage and Brown Sauce which were enjoyable enough and a fair effort at tasting as their name suggests. In the grand tradition so far, the sauce outweighed its meat counterpart but it was better than the bacon and in this more instance I at least like brown sauce. However not the crisps I’d choose personally, given all the wonderful flavours we are blessed with in our supermarket aisles.

Ham and Mustard last but not least – and I love mustard. It’s worth noting (for my own satisfaction) that Brannigans do the most incredible thick-cut Roast Beef and Mustard crisps which are honestly soooo good they cost NINETY PENCE for a small bag in my local corner shop which is absolutely extortionate but that’s beside the point. They’re worth it. Sorry, I’m going way off topic, what about this Walkers effort. They were nice actually and probably my second favourite. Not a patch on Brannigans (obviously) but with a nice mustard kick and strong, adequate flavour.

 Bag Two verdict: 4/5

So there you have it. If you’re going to treat yourself to one multi-pack, you know which one to make it. And I want to say thanks for reading this. Not my finest moment I agree but it gave me a guilt free excuse to eat twelve bags of crisps and I enjoyed that a lot.