Planters Ranch and Sweet Cayenne BBQ

 

Products circa: summer 2026

I'm late in the year to report on these semiquincentennial snacks from July.  As rare editions of Planters peanuts, these are essentially cocktail peanuts with potato chip-esque flavor powders added to them.  Not that I am complaining... flavored nut mixes are rare around these parts, for some reason.

Ranch: I'm not a ranch guy, but these are alright.  Any cool ranch Doritos fans would gobble these up.

Sweet Cayenne BBQ: These are more special; I've bought several of these since July.  Not only does the barbecue flavor work better on peanuts than ranch, the barbecue seasoning on these are a step above anything I've tasted on a chip.  You have the sweet molasses/tomato base like usual, but the smokiness here is something I haven't tasted since the old Lay's KC Masterpiece chips.  On top of that, there is a noticeable mustard component to these, which is reflected on the ingredients list.  A complex masterpiece for a peanut snack.  What a shame that these will probably never be produced again.

Cheetos The Flavor of Fear

 

Product circa: Halloween 2026

A very interesting Halloweeny take on the rare sweet-style Cheetos snack.  These are basically cinnamon-sugar Cheetos puffs with a hefty amount of chile powder on them.  I'm not a huge fan of cinnamon-sugar snacks, but the chile adds enough savoriness to make these interesting and hard to put down.  What will make you put them down, however, is the heat.  I'm very impressed with the heat level of these, and after a few puffs, you'll need to take a break to cool down.