Hot Ones Classic Chili Maple Hot Sauce Review

Hot Ones Classic Chili Maple

Note: This sauce appears on Seasons 19 - 21 of The Hot Ones.

Note: Support video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYgvexWgwq8

The original Hot Ones Classic (reviewed elsewhere here) was not a sauce I enjoyed much. The Classic Garlic Fresno (also reviewed elsewhere here) was a sauce that I liked initially, but was a bit lukewarm on it for a while, until it eventually re-grew on me. When I first opened the bottle of this one, I was shocked, as it was incomprehensible that adding maple syrup to the Garlic Fresno could have somehow wrecked that sauce.

Thankfully, after clearing room in the bottle to agitate it better (this is why I don’t tend to review sauces initially upon opening the bottle), I’m now prepared to say that this is not only one of the better Hot Ones sauces and a definite improvement on the Garlic Fresno, it is one of the top Hot Ones-branded sauces generally.

Much of this will be a repeat to the Garlic Fresno, except that the little dash of maple syrup in there changes things considerably. Interestingly, it both brings out the black pepper and works with the apple cider vinegar in a way I found pleasant. Yes, I was just as shocked as long-time readers may be upon reading that, but it’s no less true. The various elements combine here (be sure to agitate this one frequently) in a way that is borderline spectacular and this is a solid upgrade over the Garlic Fresno. The application here is more or less as a Lousiana-style or Cajun sauce, though I think it may have a touch more flexibility than those tend to have.

I’ve actually had to move this up in the schedule so I could get the bottle safely in the lower shelf of my fridge door, where I keep all my FOH Wing Thing sauces, as I was having a lot of fun playing around with it and was getting nervous that my intended goal of keeping it around for successive Wing Things. Heat-wise, this is about the same as the other, which is quite moderate.

Bottom line: One of the better entries of the Hot Ones sauces and perhaps in the entirety of the show. 

Breakdown:

           Heat level: 1
           Flavor: 10
           Flexibility: 7
           Enjoyment to dollar factor: 10

Overall: 7