This isn’t so much a review as it is a tribute.  I love Combos.  I’m trying to refrain from using expletives in this blog, but I need to underscore that I [insert expletive here] love Combos.  They are one of my favorite snacks, and probably my number one snack for car trips.  Maybe that’s why they’re the Official Cheese-Filled Snack of NASCAR.  I have a stockpile of Combos, pictured here:

I hide this arsenal in a cabinet to keep it away from enemies…and by “enemies,” I mean myself and my appetite.  Although many people think snacks like Combos are designed to withstand nuclear attack, I know this is incorrect.  Combos have a shelf-life, and hiding them in a cabinet isn’t really doing me any good.  I will save a few packages though, because I think they’d make great currency in an emergency barter economy.

There are several varieties of Combos, including nacho cheese and pretzel and 7-layer dip.  Right now I’m eating the pizzeria pretzel type.  These flavor names make a lot of promises- 7 layers of dip flavor in one small pretzel cylinder?  An entire cornucopia of pizzeria flavors in a tiny pretzel shell?  How can this be?  Somehow, the snack engineers at Mars make it work.  The pizzeria pretzel flavor doesn’t exactly taste like a pizza, although it’s not supposed to taste exactly like a pizza.  It’s supposed to taste like a combination of a pizza and a pretzel.  It achieves this flavor synergy.

First, your taste buds encounter a delicious salty pretzel, and then you break through to the tangy cheese filling.  It’s a wonderful combination of taste and texture.  And the nacho cheese and pretzel Combos are even better, in my opinion.  The only bad thing about Combos (other than the saturated fat, blah blah blah), is that they’re so delicious they tempt you to overeat like some sort of pretzel siren.  Then you feel kind of gross. That’s why my stash consists of small bags.  I don’t trust myself.

p.s. I just found out that there are two new sweet flavors of Combos: Sweet & Salty Caramel Creme Pretzel and Vanilla Frosting Pretzel.  Boom.  Mind blown.  But will these become the Official Sugar-Filled Snack of NASCAR?  I feel like there might be some stiff competition for that crown.