I guess Skippy has to keep up with the Joneses…I mean, keep up with the Jifeses.

While Skippy has flavored peanut butter spreads, dark chocolate and honey, Jif’s Whips line has seen so many flavors that it makes me wonder if it’s called Whips not only because it’s an airy peanut butter, but also because whips are what Jif uses to “encourage” their flavor scientists to pump out so many flavors.

For the sake of those who don’t follow airy peanut butter spreads as closely as I do and to inflate the word count of this review, Jif Whips have come in the following flavors: Original, Chocolate, Pumpkin Pie Spice, S’mores, Chocolate Mint, Maple Brown Sugar, and Salty Caramel.

But Skippy is trying to play catch up with their Limited Edition Creamy Peanut Butter Spread with Salted Caramel.

From what I can tell, salted caramel, sea salt caramel, salty caramel, and its ilk have been popping up as a new flavor with many products. I’d list them to further extend the word count of this review, but I shall spare you the monotony of reading dozens of commas. Salted caramel has reached the point where we could call it the non-holiday pumpkin spice.

Skippy’s salted caramel-flavored spread smells burnt with a hint of chemicaliness. Granted, I’ve never smelled the combination of peanut butter and caramel before or walked into someone with an open jar of peanut butter while I was unwrapping Werther’s Originals and then yelled “Hey! You got your peanut butter on my Werther’s Originals,” so maybe burnt with a hint of chemicaliness is what those two are supposed to smell like.

Oh, “chemicaliness” is an abomination of a word? Well then, it’s appropriate because I feel Limited Edition Creamy Peanut Butter Spread with Salted Caramel is an abomination of a peanut butter spread.

Okay, maybe not an abomination because I don’t gag while eating it on bread (it spreads just like regular Skippy), on a spoon, or on my finger, but it makes my tongue surf waves of flavors that encourages it to paddle to shore and go home. First, there’s the peanut butteriness, which has a slight caramel-ish flavor. It isn’t offensive, but the caramel flavoring does a great job at muting the peanut butter flavor. Next, there’s a burst of saltiness, which makes sense since it’s salted caramel. But, at times, it can be a bit too much.

However, that saltiness prepares my mouth for the final rough wave of flavor. Remember how I said it smells burnt? Well, it also tastes burnt. To be more exact, this last wave of flavor reminds me of burnt popcorn.

But I’m not really surprised I don’t care for it. The “artificial flavoring” printed on the front of the bottle was a red flag.

I don’t see myself ever coming close to finishing this bottle of Limited Edition Creamy Peanut Butter Spread with Salted Caramel. Right now, it sits four-fifths full in the back of the cupboard, hidden behind some bottles of the Jifeses.

(Nutrition Facts – 2 Tbsp – 190 calories, 140 calories from fat, 16 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 150 milligrams of sodium, 6 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 3 grams of sugar, and 7 grams of protein.)

Item: Skippy Limited Edition Creamy Peanut Butter Spread with Salted Caramel
Purchased Price: $3.22
Size: 15 oz.
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 3 out of 10
Pros: It spreads like regular Skippy. Looks like regular Skippy. Doesn’t make me gag.
Cons: Tastes like burnt popcorn. Smells burnt with a hint of chemicaliness. Using long words that my computer’s spell check doesn’t like.