This Nestlé KitKat Sakura Kinako appeared just in time for the start of spring last year, making seasonal visits to Japan particularly enjoyable.

These KitKats get their flavour from 1.4% kinako and sakuraba. Sakuraba are sakura leaves that have been pickled in salt and used commonly in sakura mochi. Leaves used for pickling are rich in coumarin, a fragrance component peculiar to cherry trees, and different from the variety popular for their beautiful blossoms.

Each piece is a sand colour and consist of wafers sandwiching ?? and enrobed with white chocolate flavoured with kinako.

These KitKat have a bright nutty and gently sweet kinako aroma. Upon tasting, the the kinako in the enrobing white chocolate is markedly more mellow than the aroma would suggest. A burst of nuttiness coming through with a slight sakura fragrance as we reach the cream sandwiching the wafers. The characteristic saltiness of sakura works well here to give the nuttiness a quality that recalled the creaminess of a smooth peanut butter quality but retaining a lightness on the palate. Overall, the nuttiness of the kinako and the relaxing hint of sakura makes this an enjoyable, relaxing flavour.

This Nestlé KitKat Sakura & Roasted Soy Bean contained 12x 11.6 g mini bars. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Tōkyō, Japan in 2018.