Infinity Sauces Barrel Aged Limited Edition Hot Sauce Review

Infinity Sauces Barrel Aged Limited Edition

This is one of those sauces that only comes around once in a while, the sort of special sauce that you try to make sure the food matches that quality of the sauce, so as not to waste any of it on inferior food items. This was limited to 350 bottles, to celebrate the 9th anniversary of the Heat Hot Sauce Shop, and I’m not sure how they could possibly recreate it exactly, given that there was a barrel that had whiskey in it for 4 years, then stout in it for another year, then the hot sauce itself for another year after that. 

My interest initially stemmed from the peaches, as I can just never seem to have enough fruit-based sweet hots, but the peaches, despite being one of the early ingredients in the list, don’t really show up much here as a main flavor component.  Same with the Habaneros, which impart a nice, soft heat to things. This is much more a composite sauce, with everything melding into a whole much greater than the sum of its parts, into a wonderful unity of deliciousness, with the myriad grace notes one might expect from the barrel treatment, along with the mustard and spices harmonizing well together. This is truly a beautiful, brilliant sauce, and I don’t mean so much the color, which is a very pleasant brown, but what this sauce emerged from its wooden chrysalis as.

It is very unique and I can’t think of anything quite like it, but it also has that intangible “it” quality to things, which comes along very rarely in ones lifetime at all, let alone in a condiment, but as it’s one of those “know it when you see it...or taste it, in this case” things, it is immediately set apart. When those things comes along, I feel one must take care to make sure they are enjoying it as much as they can, for when it’s gone, it will be nothing more than memories (and a blog entry and forthcoming video, at least for this one), which goes back to my earlier point. 

The flavor borders on indescribable, but peaches and mustard may not be what comes immediately to mind, in terms of pairing, and to be sure, this is more of a whole grain/stone ground mustard, I suspect, but here they mesh with the Habaneros and vinegar and whatever spices were cleverly chosen. This result, accordingly to the label, surpassed Infinity’s wildest expectations and I don’t doubt it. This is peak form, as far as flavor (it is slightly more watery than I would like) for this kind of process, storing a couple different boozes, followed up by a hot sauce, in a barrel. It won’t go with everything, so judiciousness in pairing is necessary, but the process of finding where it belong (start with fried foods) and the resulting elevation is a joy.

Bottom line: This kind of sauce comes the closest to transcending my rating system, as it kind of defies categorization. If you care at all about hot sauce, this is truly one for the ages and a must.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 1
            Flavor: 10
            Flexibility: 3
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 10

Overall: 6