I'm just going to get this debate/problem over with. This is a note to the Americans reading this blog. These are not Smarties, they are Rockets. The reason Canadians (and possibly other places as well) have Rockets is because we already have a candy called Smarties. Our Smarties are very different from your Smarties, which happen to be (possibly) exactly the same as our Rockets. It's very confusing but to sum it up, there are two candies in North America that are called Smarties, one is a chocolate disk covered in a candy shell (similar to an M&M) and the other is a round disk of chalky candy (similar to these Rockets). I'm sure there's some kind of legal issue that took place for this to happen, but at this point I have not dug into that treasure trove of documents and research. I can tell you that it appears that these are not just repackaged American Smarties, since they appear to be made by a Canadian company.

The other thing I can tell you about Rockets is that I kind of like them, but I'm not really sure why.  I'm sure nostalgia plays a huge role in my enjoyment of these candies. Every time I open a roll of these I find myself thinking about Halloweens gone by. I think about these as being a very middle of the road candy to get in your trick or treat bag, so they would often be the candy that I would sample while I was trick or treating. Chocolate bars were something you would hang onto in order to savour them later or trade for something better. Those chewy molasses kisses weren't touched until the last of the other candies were eaten. Rockets on the other hand didn't have much trade value, as they are a fairly average candy, however they weren't the worst either. It was a great way to get a little more energy in search of the coveted full chocolate bar.

Objectively I think these aren't great. I would have a hard time convincing someone who had never tried them before that they were great without telling them a long story about my childhood. I like these a bit more than other chalky hard candies because they have a bit of a sour bite to them. I can't say that each colour of Rocket is different, but I'd like to believe it. I tried to really pull out a different fruit flavour from one to the other, and I thought I tasted a hint of difference, but it could have been my imagination. I think to truly find out if there's a difference, you'd have to eat a huge handful of each flavour at once, with breaks in between each flavour. I can at least tell you that the flavours are similar enough that it's hard to pick one out.

As a side note, I really love the fact that the logo (and only graphics on this candy's wrapper) is just a picture of itself. It's weird that they didn't just put the word “Rockets” on the package and let the candy be the decoration. Instead you have a picture of the candy with the name on it. If you think about it, it'll melt your brain a little.