Woodstock Scotch Bonnet Hot Sauce Review

Woodstock Scotch Bonnet 

Sauces like these are always the most challenging to write, in that there’s not necessarily a lot to say about them. This one, with Scotch Bonnet and Habanero, as the main heat drivers, is fairly tame. Those peppers are also the main flavors as well, so if you’re looking for a thick-ish sauce that is very pepper forward in terms of flavor, with a sort of pronounced vinegar undercurrent, this would fit the bill nicely. It does have carrots and garlic listed as ingredients, but those are not really present to any great degree in the flavor. The sauce itself is a sort of yellow-light orangish color, so maybe the carrots were there to add something along those lines.

A couple things sort of stand out to me about the sauce. The first is that the odor of it threatens to put me off every time, though I do find the flavor to happily not be a match for the smell. I can’t quite put my finger on what the issue is there, but I don’t find it particularly pleasant. The second is that this has both xanthan gum and corn starch as thickeners and while it is still pourable, it is very reminiscent of a gel quality to me. I don’t particularly love that aspect, either. 

The sauce itself is a bit pedestrian and one-note and with the level of astringency, it’s best paired with something fried or where you might want it to hold in place and cut the richness, say potentially on a sub sandwich. I don’t see Scotch Bonnet showing up in sauces a great deal and when I saw this one didn’t also have onions, I got a bit excited, but this is another in a long line of Scotch Bonnet sauces that wind up a touch disappointing and more on the underwhelming side.

Bottom line: If you’re looking for a very pepper forward sauce, to sort of get a grasp on the Scotch Bonnet by way of Habanero flavor, backed with a good vinegar hit, this might be up your alley.  

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 1
            Flavor: 6
            Flexibility: 3
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 3

Overall: 3