Note: Support video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F48FoFA6-pA
In anticipation of the Scott Roberts Sauce Showdown brackets, undoubtedly coming very soon, given the tons and tons of nominations High River got, I went out and bought everything I could find from them that met my qualifications. I was disappointed with the prior two entries somewhat, and didn't hold tons and tons of hope for the Hellacious. I'm not a super-huge fan of Habanero peppers in general or of the sauces greatly and I think that pepper, especially the orange, gained so much traction simple because there was little else, aside from the fantastic and mostly unavailable Scotch Bonnets, for so very long. I do enjoy the Chocolate and Red Savina Habanero strains a great deal, it should be said and if I hit them first instead of the orange, maybe it's a different story.
Anyway, this sauce was tested more severely than any other sauce and it's because one of the worst possible things that could have happened did. As it went, I was rollicking along, enjoying this sauce immensely and thinking that finally El Yucateco Green had some competition, as Habanero sauces go. The flavor was stunning, a brilliant combination that avoided the sometimes obnoxious overtones of other habanero sauces and buffered it with a gentle, but notable, splash of chipotle, which is fast becoming one of my most favorite pepper flavors. Little wonder, I think jalapeno is one of the greatest flavors on the planet. The agave was a -- brilliant is what I'm coming up with, but really doesn't do this incredibly skillful culinary maneuver justice -- touch. The delicate bit of sweetness is spectacular. This sauce went great on Mexican food, of course, but worked well with a variety of other things, including pizza.
DiGiorno, it should be noted, was formerly a staple and they recently came out with this artisan sort of frozen pie. The first one I had was wonderful, so good I didn't bother with sauce. The second time around, I hit it with the Hellacious sauce I was enjoying so much and then the unthinkable happened: I got food poisoning. Now, if any of you have ever been really sick from something, the last damn thing you want to do is eat (or drink) it again. This also wrecked me, I might also add, for several other sauces temporarily. In this case, I dropped frozen pizzas entirely and it has been somewhat of an uphill climb for the Hellacious, given that the first few times I had to fight a gag reflex when I smelled it. I fought through because it was too good not to.
As it turns out, I'm back in the saddle with the sauce and am enjoying it again greatly. Like you would expect with a Hab sauce, there is a decent back-end heat, though it is very short-lived. I'd say this might be pushing up to 10K, but probably a little less. It is my favorite Habanero sauce, something I would not hesitate to buy or use again.
Bottom line: I think this is a brilliantly done sauce. One can easily see the skill of Steve Seabury in the other sauces, but this is the one I actually want to eat, the one that makes me nod my head in agreement with all the other accolades the man has rightfully accumulated. Without the food poisoning, this would have been a contender for Sauce Of The Year. As it stands now, it's in the "maybe" column, leaning towards "probably", but it's unquestionably a very good sauce and I back it. Not many sauces can come back from that.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 2
Flavor: 10
Flexibility: 10
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 10
Overall: 8
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