Malt vinegar is the correct choice for British salt and vinegar crisps. Not wine vinegar, not balsamic, not anything with continental pretensions. Malt vinegar, the stuff that goes on chips, the stuff that makes British seaside food British seaside food.
M&S honours this tradition.
The sourness is properly assertive. Not aggressive, not face-scrunching, but present and committed. Your lips will acknowledge the vinegar. Your palate will register the tang. The flavour promise is kept.
The malt element provides depth that other vinegars lack. There’s complexity underneath the sourness, a fermented quality that cheap salt and vinegar ignores. Someone specified malt vinegar and meant it.
On M&S’s standard crisp base, the seasoning delivers a better-than-average salt and vinegar experience. Not as intense as some competitors, but more refined. Quality over aggression.
For M&S shoppers who want salt and vinegar crisps, these are the right choice. For vinegar extremists, look elsewhere.
