Usually, the same branded products sold in different parts of the world taste different, whether due to local manufacturers or simply catering to local tastebuds. These Nabisco Oreo are an example of the former after production of the popular biscuit for the Japanese market shifted overseas to China in September 2016 and with it, came a change in flavour.
Each package contained 2 individually sealed bags each containing 9 biscuits.
Each biscuit is round and 4 cm in diameter embossed with the trademarked pattern for an Oreo.
The two chocolate wafers are a dark brown-black colour and sandwich a similarly thick off-white to pale yellow coloured sweet creme filling.
These biscuits have a sweet smell that does not give away its cocoa wafers. Biting through, the biscuit is crunchy with a slight crumble when bitten through. The sweetness from the buttercream-like filling is strong and dominates the flavour of the biscuit with only a gentle cocoa flavour coming through in the finish without any hint of bitterness to cut through the sweetness.
These Nabisco Oreo Original for the Japanese market aren’t ones I’d keep reaching into the packet for more. Thankfully, for those with less of a sweet tooth, the original manufacturer of the Oreo for the Japanese market continues to produce them under a different name: Yamazaki Biscuit Co Noir Black Cocoa.
Comparing the two, the Nabisco Oreo (above, left) has a more uniform shape with each wafer and the sweet creme having a similar thickness to give a biscuit to creme ratio of 2:1, while the Yamazaki Biscuit Co Noir Black Cocoa (above, right) has a thinner layer of creme for a 3:1 ratio.
The Nabsico Oreo (above, right) has a more buttery and softer creme that’s an off-white colour, while the creme of the Yamazaki Biscuit Co Noir Black Cocoa is firmer with a whiter colour that holds its shape when opened.
In terms of flavour, the Yamazaki Biscuit Co Noir Black Cocoa has a crisper wafer, richer cocoa flavour and more restrained sweetness that results in a more sophisticated flavour overall.
This Nabisco Oreo Original contained 2 packs of 9 biscuits each. It was produced in China and purchased in Ōsaka, Japan in 2018.