As usual, the candy shelves are stacking up with Halloween favorites and a few new novelty items.
The Pumpkin Spice M&Ms are a Target exclusive this year (just as the Candy Corn M&Ms were also exclusive their first year at WalMart). The package is cute and was easy to spot at the store. It features the orange M&M character looking like a pumpkin.
The flavor is not pumpkin pie itself, but the spices used to turn pumpkin custard into a seasonal dessert. Traditional pumpkin spices are a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, allspice, and/or mace. The ingredients for these M&Ms are vague, just listing “artificial and natural flavorings” at the end of the list.
The pieces are, for the most part, the mega size. They’re larger than a standard M&M and come in three colors in the package: dark brown, orange and green.
The flavor is overwhelmingly cinnamon. Though they smell like chocolate, they taste like chocolate milk sipped in a room with too many Christmas-scented candles. The candy shell is crispy and the milk chocolate center is, well, a bit fudgy and grainy. I think I prefer the size of the regular M&Ms, since the chocolate is merely passable. In this format the amount of sugar easily overwhelms the chocolate.
I didn’t actually notice that much of a difference from the previous limited edition Cinnamon M&Ms from two years ago. Maybe a little more note of clove. I would have preferred more of the nutmeg and ginger spices than the Tic Tac notes of cinnamon candies.
Pumpkin Spice seems to be a pretty hot flavor these days (though the Hershey’s Kisses version has been around since 2008), a lot of seasonal candies are being released (see list below of previous reviews). If you like Spiced Chai or cinnamon in general, it’s a great time to pick up this twist on old candy favorites. If not, wait a few months and the Candy Cane and Egg Nog versions will emerge.
Finally, with all the crazy flavors of M&Ms that have come out over the years, I’m a loss to why they’d go with something like peanut butter and jelly before coffee.
Related Candies
- See’s Holiday Pie Truffles
- M&Ms White Chocolate Peppermint
- Halloween Candy Spotting 2012
- M&Ms White Chocolate Candy Corn
- Pumpkin Pie Gourmet Candy Corn
- Limited Edition Strawberried Peanut Butter M&Ms
- See’s Pumpkin Spice & Root Beer Lollypops
- Hershey’s Pumpkin Spice Kisses
Funny, I made the exact same comparison to my friends (tastes like holiday candles smell). Thumbs down from me.
The general consensus in my household (3 adults and 1 child) is that these are way gross. They taste the way cheap scented holiday candles smell.
Candy Corn M&M’s weren’t Walmart-exclusive last year. Walgreens also carried them (had to upsell them at the register).
Disregard my above comment. I didn’t realize they were introduced the previous year (my mind took 2011 as 2012).
I liked the notes of spice rather than be overwhelmed by it. The raspberry M&Ms; lost me from it’s too tart flavor!
I’ve always like Pumpkin Spice in candles, lattes and of course pies, but this is a nice after lunch sweet for Fall!
This would have been a nice chance to bring back my all time favorite color of original M&Ms;... the tan! For whatever reason, I always liked those the best and saved them for last.
The reviews have not been very favorable for these. As a lover of all things pumpkin, I think I will probably pass these by in favor of the pumpkin spice Hershey kisses!
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