Nestle Kit Kat Choc Mint Whirl

It tickles me pink when Australia gets something new in the confectionery world. Fellow lolly lovers from other countries tend to explode on Twitter. Even though it's not aimed at me, I still feel pretty special!

It's even more special when one of the new products is a new flavour of Kit Kat bar, a confectionery item with dozens of reiterations (and that's just in Japan). Choc Mint Whirl (and its brother Choc Whirl) are both new to the world of Kit Kat.

Described as 'crispy wafer fingers covered in smooth milk chocolate, topped with creamy swirls of mint choc', the bar itself isn't actually a whole lot different from the original KitKat - it's just the top coating of chocolate has been replaced with a mysterious 'mint choc'. Although it can't be determined from the ingredients list, I'd hazard a guess that the top layer is compound chocolate. Not that you'd notice, of course - the production line has put some impressive squiggles of colour in my mint-green layer. The lines are not as neat as in the illustration on the front, but when are they ever?

The other impressive thing to note about this bar is the strong mint scent. It's present as soon as you begin to tear open the foil wrapper. It's sweet and very strong, a lot like Peppermint Crisp with a touch of toothpaste freshness. This is a scent that will permeate anything and everything, so if you don't finish your bar, seal it tight in a zip-lock bag!

I'm not sure what Nestle has used to create the mint flavour, but it's strong enough to give a mild tingle on the tongue. Biting into the bar reveals the fresh and crunchy wafers in the centre. The bit of chocolate cream between each layer adds a mild cocoa note to the bite, but it's the mint flavour that's the star here. If you ever wanted that Peppermint Crisp flavour without the shards, this is your bar. Honestly the chocolate doesn't have much presence, and that's okay. It's just enough to bring the flavour back from the edge of toothpaste and into ice cream land. 

Score: 4.5 out of 5 jelly beans

Nestle Kit Kat Choc Mint Whirl is made in Australia. It contains milk, wheat and soy, and is made on equipment that processes products containing peanuts and tree nuts.