Standard Walkers Salt & Vinegar is timid. MAX Salt & Malt Vinegar is not.
The thick-cut format demands more seasoning. You can’t coat a substantial ridged crisp with the same faint dusting that works on a thin one. More surface area requires more flavour. So MAX turns up the vinegar, and suddenly Walkers is making salt and vinegar crisps that actually taste of vinegar.
The sourness is assertive. Your lips will tingle. Your face might react. This is salt and vinegar that means it, that commits to the flavour profile instead of gesturing vaguely toward it.
The malt vinegar specification matters too. There’s depth here that wine vinegar versions lack, that British chip-shop authenticity that makes salt and vinegar a national treasure rather than just a flavour option.
Why can’t standard Walkers be this good?
The same question applies to all MAX products. Walkers clearly knows how to make good crisps. They choose to reserve that knowledge for premium lines while the standard range continues its reign of adequacy.
Frustrating, but the product itself is excellent.
