7 Discontinued Chocolate Bars We Wish We Could Try

The candy aisle at the grocery store is not short of variety, with seemingly endless different chocolate bars on offer to suit whatever mood you are in. Over the years, however, plenty of bars have disappeared from shelves and been replaced by newer options, leaving fans of the ditched candy brokenhearted.

While some classics have stood the test of time, such as the Hershey Bar, first released in 1900 and still going strong more than 100 years later, others have succumbed to declining popularity, cost issues, and company takeovers. Online discussions have jogged chocolate lovers' memories of bars from their youth, and many high-profile campaigns have launched to bring back discontinued favorites. While Butterfinger and Reggie bars have returned to shelves in recent years, many sought-after chocolates have been denied a chance to reclaim the spotlight. Revisiting the classic commercials can give us a snapshot of what they tasted like, but most of us will never get the chance to try them. Let's look at some discontinued chocolate bars we wish we could have today.

If you feel as though some candy bars disappear within seconds of unwrapping them, then a Marathon bar would have been a nice surprise. Launched in 1973 by Mars, the Marathon was a long, braided bar, made from caramel covered in milk chocolate. The 8-inch treat had a ruler printed on the packet to prove its mammoth size, and the tagline: "Lasts a good long time."

The classic commercial doubled down on the Marathon aspect, with "Quick Claude" unable to eat the bar as quickly as he does everything else. The chewy caramel turned the eating experience into a delightful long slog, rather than the three bites that can finish off most regular-length chocolate bars. Unfortunately for fans of the candy, the marathon ended sooner than they would have liked after only eight years on the shelves. Perhaps the concept of a tough, sticky bar that took forever to work through wasn't as big an attraction as Mars originally thought. If you tried it, you may recall your jaw being exhausted from chewing.

If you want to try this iconic '70s chocolate bar, the Curly Wurly sold in the U.K. is a similar concept, measuring just under eight inches and featuring the same braided chocolate caramel. Some say it's not quite as chewy as Marathon, but it could be a close match if you can get your hands on one.

S'mores are a classic family treat, especially around a campfire, so you can see the logic behind wrapping them in chocolate to create a candy bar. Hershey's S'mores launched in 2003, combining crunchy Graham crackers, squishy marshmallow, and smooth milk chocolate into the ultimate nostalgic treat.

The allure of enjoying s'mores without actually lighting a fire clearly wasn't tempting enough for the general public, as the marshmallow bar was discontinued in 2012. There seems to be no intention to bring it back, meaning this generation will never get the chance to enjoy the brilliant soft-and-crunchy contrast that made the S'mores bar so iconic. Reddit users have discussed similar alternatives, including Aero S'mores and Cadbury Double Decker, but nothing currently on the market tastes quite as good as the original Hershey S'mores bar. Without the candy bar, try air fryer s'mores on days when toasting marshmallows around a campfire just isn't possible. 

Alpine White by Nestlé was a candy bar that wasn't afraid to stand out from the crowd. In a sea of milk chocolate on the shelves, its pale wrapper caught the eye and represented the white chocolate and almond bar underneath. Just as iconic as the bar was the commercial, which many people remember fondly from the early 1980s. It was over-the-top theatrical and featured a catchy, quintessentially '80s song that culminated with the phrase "Sweet dreams you can't resist." 

The commercial seems more memorable than the chocolate itself, though plenty of Reddit users have declared their love for the bar. One fan said the Nestlé Milky Bar in the U.K. offers the same experience, but without the almonds. Another Redditor suggested: "Get a bag of Nestlé white chocolate chips, pulverize up some almonds, combine in a pan to melt, then pour it into a mold to cool. That's what I do, because I also have nostalgia over this."

Nestlé's connection to popularizing white chocolate — which the FDA once considered not to qualify as the real thing — is an interesting one. While Alpine White was discontinued by 1994, it had brought white chocolate into the mainstream and introduced lovers of the bar to a different, sweeter experience.

Hershey's Grand Slam may be one of the most forgotten chocolate bars, but that doesn't mean we can't still crave it today. Launched in 1985, it was discontinued just two years later, without ever getting a chance to make a nationwide impact.

The 1986 commercial was comical, poking fun at baseball players who supported the bar's name and football players who objected. The commercial describes the candy bar as having a crunchy center made with peanuts and caramel, coated in smooth Hershey's chocolate — exactly the kind of candy bar we'd love to try. With such a short lifespan, it never really had a chance to leave its mark on the nation's memories, despite its baseball theme, so we will need to imagine how great this Hershey bar tasted, since getting hold of one is unlikely to ever be an option.

Most of us love a chocolate milkshake as a treat, so the prospect of a milkshake bar is definitely appealing. One of the most enduring chocolate bars on this list, the Milkshake candy bar by Hollywood Candy Company, was released in 1927 and wasn't discontinued until Hershey bought the company in 1996. Although Hershey didn't continue it, many people still remember it fondly.

The malt flavor of the nougat filling was what made the Milkshake bar so appealing. One fan took to Facebook to say they wanted to see it back on the shelves. "They were the very best candy bar ever made in this country," they announced. A commenter on the same post reminisced about putting a Milkshake bar on a popsicle stick and freezing it. Despite fans' insistence that the classic chocolate bar return to shelves, there is no sign of it happening, so those of us who missed out the first time will never find out how awesome it was. 

When you hear the name Seven Up, your mind probably jumps to the lemon-and-lime soda, but there used to be a candy bar by the same name, and it sounds delicious. It was made of seven pockets, each with a distinct flavor, completely coated in milk chocolate. The fillings were: mint, nougat, butterscotch, fudge, coconut, buttercream, and caramel, which sounds like an awesome candy bar that would do really well in today's market.

While the Seven Up chocolate bar was discontinued in 1979 because of a legal dispute with the 7Up soda company, Reddit users reflecting on the nostalgic candy pointed out that it would be too expensive to recreate today anyway. One user compared it to the still-available Sky Bar, which has four flavored fillings, and nearly went out of production, too, until it was saved at auction. So if you remember the Seven Up candy bar fondly, it may be worth trying the Sky bar to see if it lives up to the memory. For those too young to remember them, the chances of ever trying the classic bar are very slim.

Hershey's Rally bar sounds like the kind of chocolate bar that could hold its own against today's candy offerings. With a caramel and peanut filling covered in milk chocolate and a bumpy shape that hints at what's inside, it's easy to imagine the satisfaction of biting into it and enjoying the rich, chewy goodness.

Launched in 1967, Rally was discontinued in 1979, giving it a longer run than some of the other chocolate bars on this list. It made a brief return in 2013, but it was only sold at Walgreens. According to numerous Reddit threads, the Oh Henry bar is similar, but since that was discontinued in 2019, that doesn't really help anyone looking for a nostalgic taste of the original. Oh Henry bars are apparently still sold in Canada, so if you are desperate for a similar taste, that may be an option. Otherwise, you may need to wait for another promotional relaunch, if it ever happens.