The theme of this Pocky kind of makes sense, but you really have to use your imagination. The only reason it might make sense is if you happen to associate winter with caramel. For me, winter flavours tend to be more like cinnamon, peppermint and dried fruit, but caramel has never really fit into that category the same way. Maybe there are some people and cultures that celebrate winter with caramel, and more power to you, it’s just not something I’ve seen before.

The caramel is the weak end of the theme (in my experience at least), but the glimmer part they’ve achieved in a very clever way. You’ll notice on the package that there are a few small shimmers on the actual Pocky featured on the package. What these little shimmers are highlighting is salt. Salt is a little tiny crystal that glimmers, and these are in fact covered in small grains of salt. It’s probably the first time I’ve ever had a salt covered Pocky before, but it works fairly well with the caramel flavoured chocolate coating. I would even go so far as to say that the salty surprise is the highlight of this Pocky.

The caramel flavoured chocolate is probably the worst part of this treat from a taste and texture perspective. It’s not horrible, but I’m never a huge fan of caramel flavoured chocolate. It just doesn’t hold up compared to regular caramel, and very often I’m left wondering why they just didn’t use real caramel. This Pocky is a perfect example of that, I think if they had of managed to use some real caramel, instead of caramel flavoured chocolate, this Pocky would be even more innovative and taste better.

Much like the theme of this Pocky, my opinions of this treat are a little mixed up. The caramel is fine enough, but could have been better. The salt is an amazing addition and I’m hoping they use it more in the future.