Hellicious Classique Hot Sauce Review

Hellicious Classique

Note: Support video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdtKPviCDRw

This is, if memory serves, my very first review of a sauce hailing from France and I was going to start this off by saying leave it to the land of the heart of cuisine to show everyone how an established hot sauce style should be done, but that would be overstating it quite substantially. While what we have here is very flavorful, vibrant and lively, as well as quite delicious, and certainly it would be in the upper echelon of this style, the formerly hot trend of Habanero-carrot, I find the attempt to gussy it up a bit also tends to limit the flexibility somewhat.

So, let's start with the good parts. I love, as in absolutely adore, the aesthetics of this bottle, from the simulated metal embossed label with the sauce maker's name and logo, to the minimalist approach of the label, while leaving enough room on the surface of the bottle to get a good look at the gorgeous color of the sauce itself, to the bottle, which is definitely a throwback with its very heavy and solid glass bottom, even to the nifty metal cap. Also, I find the flavors of this sauce really emphasize that of the ingredients as vegetables. You get quite a sense of the carrot and the Habanero, as well as an ingredient I don't run across much in general and don't know if I've ever had in a sauce, the Habanada. 

For all of those good, though, there are some not as good. The cap is pretty flexible and seems like it would deform easily. The bottle is listed as 100ml, which is a bit over 3 fluid ounces or 3/5 of what the "normal" hot sauce bottle is here...and then we need to talk about the contents, the sauce.

As to the sauce itself, there is precious little heat here. As it is Habanero, it can build a bit, it just never does to any great extent. Heat is clearly not the goal with this one and it makes a one, but only just, as in barely. Further, there is a tendency of this sauce to want to be the main star and indeed, if your usage is with a focus on this sauce, it's fine. Add it to anything slightly complex, and we get the cancellation effect, which has the negative tendency to really bring out the floral and perfumy aspects of this sauce, which I personally find none too enjoyable. I found this to be best when I used it with relatively unadorned meat and didn't really love it anywhere else, even though I will note this sauce is quite good-tasting solo. For a style that was meant to be an "everyday" sauce, this falls more than a bit flat there.

Bottom line: Ultimately, this is a very interesting and unique take, a spin, as it were, on an established sauce style I don't see a lot of people doing lately. Where you use this, along with how much you enjoy a floral nature to your hot sauce, will greatly influence how much you enjoy this. 

Breakdown:

           Heat level: 1
           Flavor: 6
           Flexibility: 2
           Enjoyment to dollar factor: 7

Overall: 4