Ben & Jerry's - Nutty Caramel Swirl (7-11 Exclusive)

Nutty Caramel Swirl - Nougat Ice Cream with Peanuts, Fudge Flakes & a Salty Caramel Swirl

This is a 7-11 exclusive flavor which appears to be Ben & Jerry's implementation of a "Snickers Bar" flavored ice cream as its based on the combination of chocolate, caramel, peanuts and nougat.  Its interesting to contrast this flavor with the Candy Bar Pie ice cream that I reviewed earlier.  Here, the nougat is in the base ice cream whereas in CBP the nougat is in a swirl.  Here the nuts are included direction as a fill-in while in CDP they are worked in to the peanut butter ice cream base.  Two twists on the same idea.

Opening the pint, you notice the beige color of the nougat ice cream base and lots of fudge flakes are visible right away as well.  You even see a little hint of the caramel swirl right on top.  I was curious as to how they would pull off the nougat flavor of the base.  Its not a strong flavor, but it really does taste like the inside of a Three Musketeers bar.  As mentioned in previous reviews, the fudge flakes are just the right size and thickness as to mimic a crumbled coating of a nougat-filled chocolate bar.  The peanut halves were generously dispersed throughout the pint.  Although the caramel was visible and noticeable, I think there could have been more.  I've had this flavor before and I seem to remember more caramel last time so it might be something that varies from pint to pint.

I did enjoy this flavor.  As a matter of fact, I enjoyed it more than I did Candy Bar Pie, but if you prefer peanut butter and pretzels to peanuts and caramel you may disagree.  The main problem here is the 7-11 exclusivity.  I have one two blocks from me, but my home state of Minnesota does not have any 7-11's.  Also, the fact that its available only at 7-11 means that you have to pay convenience store prices which is typically a buck or two more than the supermarket.