67
It’s hard to say a specific top but it would probably be Walkers Sensations Thai Sweet Chili. Unfortunately as an American those are a bit harder to find, except through gray market importers and that makes them expensive enough that I rarely get them, and save them for a special treat.
Walkers is a UK brand of Frito-Lay. They actually tried bringing the Sensations sub-brand to the US in the mid-’00s with various Lay’s and Tostitos flavors. I bought a lot of the flavor, which I think they called Sweet Chili and Sour Cream but was basically the same. Sadly it didn’t last long, maybe a year. At a college career fair a couple years later I asked a regional manager from Frito-Lay what happened and he said all the potato Sensations flavors were selling really well, even selling out, but the corn flavors did really poorly. The corn flavors were produced on the same lines that produced Sun Chips, which were really growing in sales at the time. For unexplained reasons when they ended the corn Sensations flavors they ended all the Sensations flavors in the US. It’s funny, as kettle-cooked chips have been gaining market share it seems like Frito-Lay has struggled to find a strong brand in that area outside of Miss Vickie’s. I still wonder if they’d given Sensations more support if they would’ve done better.
I’ve seen other US brands try their hands at that flavor, but the only one I’ve felt come close is Hal’s of New York. I don’t live in New York, though, so they’re not easy to find.
Weirdly another favorite is a store brand salt and vinegar kettle chip. The vinegar is really acidic on those, to the extent my lips feel a bit burnt for several hours after eating them. I keep feeling like I should try to find the manufacturer just in case the store ever changes suppliers.
