First Impressions: Right out of the gate, the moment I tore open the bag I was greeted with the inviting aromas of pumpkin intertwining with creamy caramel – definitely a good sign!  Also, the individually wrapped candies are a bit slimy, either from melted butter or (more likely) melted sugar.  It’s hard to tell if this was done intentionally to keep the caramel from sticking to the wrappers upon opening or just the result of shipping candy to someone who resides in the state of Florida where it’s really, really warm…
Taste Test: The pumpkin flavoring is almost an afterthought, to mean that the caramel definitely provides the bulk of the sweetness in the candies themselves.  I wouldn’t necessarily say that these are completely devoid of pumpkin like other items that I’ve reviewed recently, however it’s definitely more of a pumpkin nuance to enjoy after the caramel melts in your mouth than a flavor that just hits you right in the face the moment you pop the caramel in your mouth.  Quaint and refined, as opposed to over-the-top, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing!
Recommendation?: While these candies didn’t offer a knock-out flavor purely from a pumpkin perspective, they were certainly buttery and delicious as far as homemade caramel is concerned, and if you were looking for a unique gift for the pumpkin/candy-lover on your list, you probably wouldn’t get any complaints if they found a package of these in their stocking come Christmas morning.

Source: Although I technically ordered mine through amazon.com, I just learned that you can also get these directly from the people who make them via calabasascandy.com.

Disneyland Locale: Marceline’s Confectionary @ Disneyland Park

Revisiting the Past: So yes, it’s true – we most certainly have seen this fudge before.  In fact, this particular fudge first made its modest debut as the very first post on this blog more than two years ago!  Sure, that one was technically from Disney World as opposed to Disneyland, but let’s not kid ourselves – it’s not just the attractions that get duplicated from one coast to the other…
Why Go Back?: Really, why not?! A) it’s fudge, B) it’s pumpkin fudge, and most notably C) if you look back to that original post from 2008, it’s not like I was real verbose with my first effort, if you know what I mean!
Review, Part Deux: Extraordinarily rich and sweet, almost to the point of being “too much.”  Although I didn’t try any other flavors here, I have sampled others at Walt Disney World and in general most of them don’t usually have that “biting into a block of sugar” rush of sweetness to them, so it very well could just be this particular flavor.  On the upside, though, you certainly won’t catch me saying that this one doesn’t really taste all that much like actual pumpkin!
Fly or Die: I didn’t really see much else pumpkin-related for candy around Disneyland, so if pumpkin sweets are your goal, then dive in … just make sure you’ve got milk or at least water handy afterwards.  It probably wouldn’t be wise to tell your dentist, either…

Disclaimer: I know that they don’t technically have any similarities to pumpkin aside from their shape, but I don’t care because aside from pumpkin, peanut butter is probably one of my favorite flavors of all-time!
Reese’s Fandom: Part of the fun of holiday candy for me is seeing what new shapes each of the classics are transformed into, whether we’re talking about Peeps or even something that people actually want to eat, like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Sure, these pumpkins taste just the same as the eggs around Easter, the hearts for Valentine’s Day, and the trees for Christmas, but somehow they always manage to wind up in my candy dish just the same…
Ponderings: What would pumpkin-flavored peanut butter taste like, anyways???

Origin: Walmart
Surprise Coupled with Intrigue: after encountering a similar batch at Walmart’s primary competitor, two in one week did seem a bit odd, yes…
So, How’d They Stack Up: No contest – aside from being “technically orange,” that was pretty much the only similarity to pumpkin that I could find.  The had a very vague cinnamon aftertaste to them, but whoever labeled these as Pumpkin Spice obviously never actually tasted them.
Furthermore…: It makes me wonder what some of their other Gourmet Candy Corn varieties actually taste like, seeing as these were part of a bigger display that also featured such extravagantly sounding flavors as Blackberry Cobbler, Creme Brulee, and Apple Cider. Surely these guys couldn’t have an entire line of flavorless “gourmet” candy corn, now could they???
Final Verdict: If you’re looking for quality, head to Target … and that pretty much applies to almost anything…

Level of Excitement: first pumpkin retail purchase of 2009!
Level of Surprise: moderate … not sure how I overlooked these last year, unless they just didn’t exist
Level of Flavor: Not bad.  Admittedly, the pumpkin begins to fade the more of them that you eat, but seeing as how candy corn are pretty much just pure sugar anyways, what do you really expect?!
Gourmet?: Agreed, primarily because they’re larger than the old-fashioned kind that you would traditionally expect from the likes of Brach’s and other such knock-offs.  They’ve also got a nice color to them, so even if you weren’t looking to actually eat these, they might look classy in a nice candy dish or something.
Decorating Tips?  Is That What You’ve Been Reduced to?: Hey, it’s been a slow year…

Origin: some candy shoppe in New York (just guessing that it’s one of those places that calls itself a shoppe instead of a shop)
Gratitude Footnote: This treat was provided by my future in-laws who are quite familiar with my affinity for all things pumpkin and were actually present for last year’s pancake excursion, among others that I failed to photograph.
Commentary: While its darker color may not have made it much to look at, most likely due to the extensive cross-country road trip down, it’s flavor was incredibly sweet and arguably better than Disney’s pumpkin fudge from last weekend.  Its creators did a good job of not only incorporating the pumpkin flavor itself, per se, but also it seems the other spices commonly associated with pumpkin pie (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, etc…).
Final Verdict: future in-laws are awesome, both in pumpkin-related discretions and otherwise

Found At: the Target that I surprisingly haven’t gotten kicked out of for candy voyeurism yet
Taste: good, but not stellar (pumpkin-flavored chocolate is a tricky beast to master)
Worth Noting: This bag sat in my car in the warm Florida sun for several hours before being cracked open, so admittedly they were a little soft.
Recommendable: Indeed – upper end of the scale as far as odd-flavored Hershey’s Kisses are concerned.

Origin: Target candy aisle (getting creepier with every photo taken…)
Thoughts: I appreciate the effort, but in reality these are merely glorified candy corn.  As far as I’m concerned, if it doesn’t taste like pumpkin, it’s just standing in the way of something else that does.

Discovered At: Target
Food for Thought: Peeps are kinda fun to look at, seeing what new shapes and colors they come up with for every season, but I’m not sure that I know of anyone who actually eats these things.
Suggestion: Add flavor.
Suggestion Sub-Note: No, seriously – 99.9% of all Peeps taste exactly the same, but they might actually be able to get some people to eat these things if they tasted more like what they’re intended to resemble!  Case in point, had these been pumpkin-flavored Peeps, I’d have actually purchased them instead of just snapping a quick picture before returning them to the stand.

Origin: Goofy’s Candy Co. @ Downtown Disney – Walt Disney World Resort
Analysis: cookie is merely a sugar cookie dressed up as a pumpkin, but the fudge is the real deal
Conclusion: pumpkin fudge was pretty darned delicious, and despite not being pumpkin-flavored, the cookie was actually pretty good, too