JFG Nation, any junk food / snack food reviewer worth their salt covers each new Oreo flavor like it’s the MLB trade deadline or the announcing of the Oscar nominees. And as social media viral potential grows, food companies are trying to capture the same buzz as when Adele sings in a car with James Corden. It’s hard for food companies though – the Lay’s Do Us A Flavor contest, which is super successful, had approximately 14.4 million entries two years ago according to this article. As a matter of comparison, this video of a cat wearing a shark costume riding a Roomba has almost 12 millions views. Huh huh….cat.

So yeah – when people ask, “WHY IS OREO COMING OUT WITH SO MANY NEW FLAVORS???” the answer is simple: because they are trying, like every other company in the world, to stay relevant. And I for one don’t blame them. I EMBRACE IT. I mean, Chobani comes out with a new flavor every week yet you don’t see people screaming, “DAMNIT I JUST LIKE THE PLAIN TART FLAVOR WHY ARE THEY MIXING IN GRANOLA???”

To that end, Oreo recently sent me a box:

Like the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, I was super curious what this thing was. Is this a trick from one of those Saw movies?

And what the hell is a WonderVault??? If you’ll remember, Oreo debuted the WONDERFILLED campaign a couple years ago and sent me the Marshmallow Crispy Oreos and the Cookie Dough Oreos to commemorate the occasion.

So now there’s something called the WONDER VAULT. BUT WHAT IS IT.

I opened the box, and this video appeared: (and by box I meant email box, and by appeared I meant I cut and pasted the embed code below…)

WHAT THE WHAT. From the video, you can guess what was inside this box:

BOOM! Cinnamon Bun Oreos! And the re-release of last year’s Red Velvet Oreos!!!

MMMMM RED VELVET. Read my review from last year here.

Anyways, let’s get to all the promotional language that came with the cookies:

“What is the OREO Wonder Vault you ask? It’s the epicenter of OREO cookie exploration where new OREO treats are released year round, from now-classics (hello Birthday Cake!) to the quirkiest launches (calling all Marshmallow Crispy lovers); but more than that, it’s where OREO collects and stores everything that’s needed to bring cookie creations to life – from the inspiration to the ingredients.”

“Red Velvet Flavored OREO cookies will be back by popular demand, and this time you won’t have to hide away your stash because this fan favorite will be available as an ongoing offering. Find Red Velvet OREO cookies nationwide beginning January 18.”

“Also debuting as an everyday addition to the OREO lineup on January 18th are Cinnamon Bun Flavored OREO cookies. Featuring a first-ever cinnamon-flavored cookie with a Cinnamon Bun and frosting flavored creme, these new cookies deliver our take on a fresh-from-the-oven cinnamon bun.”

Well, ok then! You can get these cookies everywhere RIGHT NOW. What’s even MORE exciting is that Red Velvet and Cinnamon Bun will apparently be a REGULAR offering – these ain’t limited editions, folks. THESE ARE PART OF THE OREO FAMILY NOW. I bet you Walmart has them. They have everything, those cookie overlords.

Cinnamon Bun Oreos has a cinnamon cookie which, according to my count, is the fifth cookie type Oreo has introduced (chocolate, golden, red velvet, graham, and now cinnamon). It contains cinnamon bun flavored creme, which makes me extra excited – why limit the cinnamon flavor to just the cookie? If this is truly gonna reach Cinnabon epic-ness, then that cinnamon bun flavor has to be EVERYWHERE.

Haha. I enjoy word play.

Let’s see, what’s in these Cinnamon Bun Oreos? Sugar, sugar, sugar……yep, it’s all there!

Opening these Cinnamon Bun Oreos, I took a big sniff, and the aroma was unmistakable – it was the smell of strolling through the mall and walking by a Cinnabon. It was the cloyingly sickeningly sweet smell of cinnamon buns. Holy moly.

The wafer cookie of this Cinnamon Bun Oreo was speckled with cinnamon. Eating the wafer by itself, the cookie is sweet, but sort of graham-like – they reminded me a LOT of the French Toast Goldfish Grahams, with a hint less maple. But it had that same sort of of doughy cookie flavor, with a decent spice of cinnamon. Snickerdoodle-esque, if you will.

The creme of these Cinnamon Bun Oreos was NOT like a standard Oreo creme. For one, it was a LOT gummier – thicker, and when you tried to spread it between the tongue and the roof of the mouth, it felt a lot more like icing than creme. VERY strong vanilla flavor, very much like the icing on a cinnamon bun. Very very sweet, and has a hint of cinnamon itself.

Eaten together, there’s no doubt that these Cinnamon Bun Oreos taste exactly like cinnamon buns. Just as sweet, just as cinnamon-y, but crunchy. These are crunchy cinnamon buns. The flavor profile was accurate and really really tasty. I could have used even MORE cinnamon, but that’s being nitpicky – these were cinnamon-y like Cinnamon LIFE cereal….drenched in icing. These cookies had that same “Am I tasting the icing in my nose??” flavor I get when eating an actual cinnamon bun.

Could Oreo have gone the Snickerdoodle route? Sure but that would have been too easy – making the flavor Cinnamon Bun allowed the flavor mad scientists to tweak the creme and really come up with something specific. I liked these a lot – the best Oreos are the ones that don’t try to force or recreate a new flavor. Gingerbread, Pumpkin Spice, Marshmallow Crispy, and now…Cinnamon Bun. Thank you, Wonder Vault.

PURCHASED AT: Sent to me, soon to be everywhere!

COST: $4.49 retail, but I’m gonna guess ~$3.00 in most stores

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy

PS: Happy Birthday to the Junk Food Gal! Let her hear it in the comments, Nation…..