Tayto Group
Golden Wonder, Jonathan Crisp, Real Handcooked Crisps, Tavern Snacks, Tayto
Address: Tandragee Castle, Tandragee, Co. Armagh, 
Northern Ireland BT62 2AB, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 028 38 840249
Website: www.taytogroup.com, www.goldenwonder.com, 
www.realcrisps.com
Email: Contact Form

Tayto

Tayto Castle in the Ulster countryside is where the terrific Tayto crisps are made. The castle is over 500 years old and was originally the home of the O’Hanlon clan, one of the mightiest and most powerful clans in all of Ireland.
In 1955 the castle was in need of repair and was bought by a visionary local businessman, Thomas Hutchinson.
In 1956 he had the clever idea to make a new potato product called crisps, and started making Tayto crisps creating one of the world's best loved brands of crisps and snacks.
An enduring feature of Tayto has been Mr. Tayto, the brand's lovable mascot. He's a well known and well loved face across Northern Ireland, has been all over the world promoting Tayto and has starred in many of his own advertisements.
The word spread about the terrific Tayto taste and soon all sorts of great stuff was being made.
In 1964, Tayto became one of the first companies to sell different flavours of crisps with Smoky Bacon and Prawn Cocktail being two of the most popular.

Golden Wonder, Real Handcooked Crisps, Tavern Snacks and Jonathan Crisps are all under the Tayto umbrella. Reviews can be read by clicking on the logo links below.​
Tayto Salt ‘n’ Vinegar Spirals
The bag features a little Mr Tayto character emerging from behind a good representation of what a ‘Spiral’ look like. These were smooth, twisted, inch-long, pale coloured, firm, bordering hard reconstituted potato snacks, that pulled off a worthy Salt and Vinegar combo.
(21) * 2022 UK Winner
Tayto High Fives Bacon Baked Corn Snacks
If you are reading this I am going to guess you are familiar with Wotsits and Cheetos from the Lay’s/Walkers stable. They were cylindrical orange puffed snacks. They also tasted of the familiar chemical Bacon that oddly, never tastes of Bacon, but always like Bacon flavour crisps and snacks. They were a perfectly executed version of the snack.
(15)
Tayto Cheese & Onion Crisps 
A Nose Plunge Test revealed a remarkably genuine aroma of both cheese and onion. I have not come across such a reliable representation of the smell. It is at this juncture that I should remind readers that these crisps are not just the world’s first cheese and onion crisp, but the world’s first flavoured crisps. It would, therefore, be difficult to claim that the first flavour is not the best example of the variety, and the most reliable barometer for all subsequent flavours. However, I will claim that these are not the best example of cheese and onion crisps that I have ever tasted, but that is perhaps inevitable with age refinement of such a grand flavour variety. Although it should be said that the combination works very well and is balanced beautifully by Tayto. They were also a bit too salty.   
​(11)
Tayto Salt & Vinegar Crisps 
These seemed to be a little watery on the vinegar side and the salt only really crept in towards each crisp’s demise. The balance was okay, but nothing memorable.   
(10)
Tayto Smoky Bacon Crisps
Thin, crisp and thinly cut. No smoky bacon crisps taste like smoky bacon, but they do often taste like the crisps variety described as smoky bacon – if you know what I mean. As these were so thinly cut I needed a handful to get the best flavour. There was a slight saltiness but the smoky bacon was rewarding and just a tad under-sweetened, but very moreish.
(11)
Tayto Wuster Sauce Crisps
On first reflection I was led to believe these would have the familiar aroma and taste of Worcestershire Sauce. They did not. However, these are called ‘Wuster’ so I have no choice but to mark them based on the fact they had a somewhat familiar taste, but not completely related to Worcestershire Sauce. Sneaky. A little spicy, a little oniony, and a little saucy.
​(9)
​Tayto Pickled Onion Crisps
Light in colour, light in texture and light in crunch. Tasty, Pickled Onion, though, so a winner on most counts. It took a handful to get the full effect of the flavour, but it was clearly identifiable.
(12)

Withdrawn

​Tayto Advantage Oven Baked Whisps Texan
​Grill Crisps
First things first, it should be noted that although seemingly plentiful because of the size, 21 grams is quite a small weight for a bag of potato chips or crisps. This may directly contribute to the calorie content – Clever. Also, intriguingly, are the relatively high numbers on the nutrition label: As high as many regular chips and crisps. There was a familiar barbecue flavour, but it was so overwhelmed by sweetness that it struggled for its own identity among the massive range of options in the field.   
​(11)
​Tayto Advantage Oven Baked Whisps
​French Onion 
There were a lot of potato snacks in the bag, but the weight was only 21 grams. This is a relatively small weight for a bag of chips or crisps. A Nose Plunge Test revealed a sort of plasticky aroma – There was no food smell. The taste was a little more rewarding, but the onion flavour was a very muted and insubstantial contribution.   
(11)