CaJohn Hard certainly doesn't need me to sing his praises. As the most awarded hot sauce company and as the creator of many of either my favorites or very well-liked sauces, it's easy to see why that would be the case and that he richly deserves it. Now, some of his sauces get a little outlandish for me, which is why sauces seemingly more...mundane is not the word, but call it "stripped-down", hold a certain appeal for me, as he always does an exceedingly good job, execution-wise.Here we have what seems to be a very basic Habanero sauce and looking at the ingredients, it seems very straightforward. What is sort of surprising is the blast of citrus (lemon) here, which gets to be very assertive. It's not quite acidic, given that the vinegar is so heavily prominent as well, but it does give it a light and lively sort of aspect, perhaps more towards astringent. This also rather notably cuts down its flexibility.
It's not a bad-tasting sauce, but it really needs to accompany a food where you would want citrus. Fish seems a very natural fit here, maybe even chicken. In many ways, it is reminiscent of the El Yucateco Red, as both are very forceful Habanero sauces, coming out of the gate with a (relatively minor) heat blast and then quickly leveling off, but unlike that other, this one lands with a thud on anything that needs a more forceful sauce, such as tamales, for instance, rather than a very assertive lemon, which would need to be a grace note to work here.
Bottom line: I'm tempted to call it a one-note sauce and oh, what a note, but the lemon is nearly as equally distinct as the Habanero, probably due to using an extract for the fruit, so that description is out. Fans of Habanero and citrus will find much to enjoy here, but as for me, the use must be judicious and the appeal is thereby somewhat limited.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 3
Flavor: 5
Flexibility: 4
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 4
Overall: 4
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