“Korea No. 1 Brand”, the packaging declares, as if trying to prove via a blatant grammatical error that it is, in fact, a Korean export. At any rate, these are a knockoff of the popular “biscuits dipped in white chocolate with cookie bits” brand, whose name escapes me at the moment. (Whatever they’re called, they should be called Poco’s…that’s a good name for a biscuit.)

Anyway, you get a decent amount of product for the $1 price tag: our box came with about seven or eight delicious biscuits. The “biscuits” here are pretty thick, and also rather long, so each one is a decent-sized snack…it will still take two or three to fill a typical craving, but I feel like they’re a bit bigger than other brands. The chocolate/cookie coating generously takes up about 85% or so of the entire biscuit, leaving just one small section uncovered at the bottom, presumably where you’re supposed to handle it while you’re devouring it. It’s like a dessert on a stick, except the stick is also edible. What’s not to love about that?

You really can’t screw up a white chocolate and cookie concoction, and Pepero just further proves that, by delivering a rich combination of sweets that taste pretty much exactly like what you’re expecting. There isn’t much of an attempt at improving upon the competition so much as emulating it: for the most part, Pepero succeeds in this regard.

However, there is one difference that, I would imagine, would prove to be divisive among fans of the original: the biscuit here has a strong flavor on its own. That’s not really a big deal by itself, but the bigger deal is what it tastes like: a less sweet version of a graham cracker. It’s almost like a graham cracker meets a regular cracker, and then amps the taste quotient up a few notches. Admittedly, the strong taste really isn’t all that noticeable during the chocolate bites, but basically forces the last bite to be the most dry, dull, lackluster one of the entire affair, and does it no favors. Kind of like when a twist ending ruins an otherwise good movie.

I also don’t like the inexplicable “design” on the bare biscuit: I seriously thought the first one I ate had a bug infestation. There are just some small, oval-ish dark marks that look a lot like maggot eggs…not sure why my mind went there, but it did, and it’s kind of unsettling to see. I was more relieved when I saw all of the remaining biscuits contained them, because I assumed that meant they were just part of the overall design…but it could also mean the package was infected with some very consistent maggots.

Weird design scheme and strong biscuit flavor aside, I’d still recommend these – and I would also pick them up again – but not as frequently as I would if the last bite actually matched the ones before it.

Overall: 6.5/10. That damn cracker in biscuit disguise is the only thing that ruins what could have been a relatively strong product. The white chocolate and cookie combination is pretty much a perfect imitation for fans of the popular brand, and there’s a good amount of biscuits included in the package for a mere buck. However, the last bite – you know, the only one not covered in sweet deliciousness – is way too strong and feels out of place. Oh, and the little design they have running up the biscuit look like maggot eggs. If you can get past those two things, go ahead and grab yourself a box! They’re seriously pretty good for $1.