The Sour Cracker Barrel Candy That Tastes Unexpectedly Familiar

If Cracker Barrel is remembered for just three things, it'll be the "simplified" but sprawling menu that keeps getting longer, tiny tabletop games, and the Old Country Store filled to the brim with treasures you didn't know you needed. Besides a wide selection of home decoration items, baby clothes, and expensive candles, the Old Country Store is also home to an impressive selection of vintage candies and sodas. Ever needed to pick up a 12-pack of Big Red sodas or a few Necco Wafer Rolls? Cracker Barrel has you covered. The Old Country Store will soon add Retro Sours to its shelves — a nostalgic, tangy treat that recreates the much-beloved, long-lost Altoids Sours.

Altoids Sours were introduced to the public in 2004 by the Mars candy brand and came in five truly sour, truly tart flavors: mango, tangerine, apple, raspberry, and lime. It was on the market for only about six years before it was discontinued without much explanation. In later years, it was revealed that Mars pulled the candy from shelves due to low sales. Despite the nostalgia which spurred buyers to pay between $99 and $250 for the tiny, circular tins of sweet treats on reselling sites, Mars never revived the candy, and fans around the globe were forced to reminisce aboaut the good ol' days of puckered lips and sticky fingers — until Iconic Candy introduced their Retro Sours to Cracker Barrel in late 2024.

Cracker Barrel and Retro Sours are bringing back that tangy nostalgia

Iconic Candy is a family-owned and operated candy-making business that is well-known for bringing discontinued and forgotten brands back from the proverbial grave. Kenny and Kim Wiesen, the brand's CEO and CFO, aimed to resurrect Altoids Sours thanks to their personal passion for the tangy candies. When Mars pulled the original Altoids Sours from shelves, they saw an outpouring of disappointment from fans and knew they had to do something about it. Iconic Candy launched its Retro Sours on Instagram in late 2024 alongside an announcement that the candies would only be sold in Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores and IT'SUGAR stores. The brand is also aiming to make Retro Sours available on Amazon, ensuring that you can enjoy that tart-filled goodness whenever the craving arises.

Retro Sours will be similar to Altoids Sours in many ways but won't be a recipe-for-recipe reproduction. The Iconic Candy sour treats are currently available in mango, tangerine, and citrus (arguably the most popular Altoids Sours flavors), but demand is already rising for the brand to replicate the other two original flavors. The candy even looks the same as Altoids Sours, in that iconic flower-like shape known as "raspberries" and coated in a gentle dusting of powder. Fans who have already tried Retro Sours have described the flavor as "tasting exactly like 2007," meaning that while no sour candy will ever replace Altoids Sours, at least Retro Sours are there to fill the candy-shaped void in our hearts.

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