UPDATE: Support video now available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndnk-tUTjXI I did their Wildfire review some time back and remember it somewhat favorably, but evidently forgot the actual name of the sauce and thought it was named Motherlode. Hence, when I saw this smallish bottle of Motherlode in the store, I connected the two as the same and bought it for the purpose of making a support video for the earlier Wildfire review. However, this is a different sauce, the much more tame version.
The best way to think of this is liquefied chili powder. You've got the classic Arbol, along with some Gaujillo, some Aji, and some Piquin, but no Pepins, as in the Wildfire. The Wildfire was much too tame by my reckoning to have a name like that, but this one is pretty straightforward, just Rocky Mountain Hot Sauce. If the other one was pointed squarely at Cholula, this one moves nearly neck and neck. It will work well in a much wider variety of foods, Mexican, obviously, but also eggs and pizza and ramen and could even possibly do passably as a dipping sauce.
The reason that chili powder does so well, to the point that even people who don't like spicy foods particularly, will keep it at hand is because not only is it readily available, but it has a nice warmth to it, a good sort of earthy feel. This sauce doesn't quite get to that point, but it is very similar. Flavor is very solid, doing well to accent things, but the sauce itself does not really add any heat to speak of. Chileheads will be gravely disappointed in this, but I would call this a great starter hot sauce, maybe along the lines of the Taco Bell Mild or La Victoria or the aforementioned Cholula or regular Valentina, in that it serves as a great introduction to chili flavor without adding any kind of mouth burn to the equation.
Bottom line: If you need a starter sauce, this is definitely one to consider. I'm a bit beyond this kind of thing and will probably finish the bottle, but not replace once it is gone.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 1
Flavor: 6
Flexibility: 6
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 4
Overall: 4
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