Nanae Sweet Apple Wine Caramel 七重スイートリンゴワイン キャラメル

In the past I have tried some unusual Japanese caramels like Genghis Khan and Vermont Curry. I actually liked them, but most people didn't, especially Yasu.

When I saw this product of Hakodate - Nanae Sweet Apple Wine - in caramel form, I just had to try it.

Nanae Town (七重) is a popular tourist destination on the Oshima Peninsula, just near Hakodate.

Some interesting facts about Nanae:

- Nanae was the first place in Hokkaido to start foreign exchange
- There are many Haiku written about Lake Onuma, one of the two lakes in the area.
- There are 9 festivals in the area throughout the year
- Recommended foods to eat in the area are Fried Pond Smelt (?), Pond Smelt boiled in soy sauce, Apple wine, the local Sake, and Apple pie.

But enough about the history and tourism, onto the tasting.

Each box of caramel has 18 individually wrapped pieces.

The box really smells like apple, and I'm glad to say, it is small and does not create alot of waste with packaging. So that's a good start.

The caramel is slightly harder than a hi-chew candy, but has give when you bite into it.

The first notes are sweetness and a flavour of apple juice. As I chew more I get a slightly caramel flavour, then some salt, followed by sweetness. For some reason, I get a slight aroma of fried onions at the back of my throat, though it's not unpleasant, more savoury than anything. At the end I get a slight tart taste, I guess, that is from real apple wine (1%), contained in this caramel, though it is fleeting and gives way to sweetness once again.

This caramel is not overly apple, nor wine, but it does give hints of both. I thoroughly enjoyed this caramel because it is not overdone.

It gives you a feeling as to what the real apple wine might be like. I'd really like to try the real thing, but since I can't, I'll stick to my apple wine caramels.

The wine on the front of the box is an actual product made by the Hakodate Winery (site is in Japanese only). Looking at the website they also sell Sweet Melon Wine and Sweet Peach wine.

If you visit this site, you can see the other caramels made by the company who made these. Some of them looking pretty interesting too! I can see a few for future posts, maybe.