On board a flight from San Diego to Seattle, I got out the second item from my British snack sampler. Parma Violets have a floral scent, so what better snack could there be when you're sitting just two rows from the bathrooms on a plane?
The scent reminded me, not unpleasantly, of a funeral home or artificial flower spray--but in a lighter and inoffensive way. They smell like a sweet-tempered Grandma. And they taste kind of like one, too, I imagine, without assuming all Grandmas are so dry and chalky (mine is not).
These seem like a novelty item to me. It was not really difficult to stop eating them after testing a couple. They stubbornly resist the moisture in one's mouth, so I found it more agreeable to suck on one for a while, rather than chewing it right away. Doing this also mellows the flavor, which can otherwise be a little soapy, in a positive way.
