Buffalo Trace Hot Sauce Review

Buffalo Trace

Yet another stealth B & G Foods sauce, a facet of which I was unaware until after I’d already received and opened the bottle, and another I found on the Amazon because I needed to add a couple of bucks for free freight. This reminds me a lot of the Four Sixes hot sauce I reviewed earlier in the year (check TOC at right), only with the heavy addition, as one might reasonably expect, of bourbon. While I think liquor, booze in general, can work in hot sauces, I find it’s a lot like extract in that most of the time it does not and it’s for a similar reason. Many of the times makers using one of those components gets very heavy-handed with the addition. In the case of this, it smells and tastes considerably of raw bourbon.

This creates a considerable problem for what is ostensibly a Lousiana-style Cayenne style. For other styles, if the liquor comes across as raw and unrefined, an application of heat to cook that off can often save the sauce. I generally will wind up sending them to the grill, particularly if they have enough sugar to help caramelize things. Given the vinegar-forward nature of this style, that is not really an option, as you will lose one of the defining characteristics of the sauce along with it. I do think the idea is potentially workable, but the bourbon needs to be much further back in the flavor mix. I’ve been saying bourbon here because in an oddity, the label says the flavor is “inspired by Buffalo Trace,” and the ingredients list bourbon and not Buffalo Trace specifically. So...why is Buffalo Trace on the label? 

I don’t know, but I can’t imagine it is any more complicated than mere branding. It’s hard to see this sauce winning over any fans, unless there is a market for a collector’s item. This is the kind of sauce you could ostensibly make by taking the aforementioned Four Sixes sauce and dumping some bourbon into it. That might be what they, in fact, did. Certainly the heat levels are similar, specifically not existent in either. 

At times, the Cayenne will try to peek its head out, but rather than being useful in restoring balance to heavier dishes, something the Louisiana-style is quite adept at, this one sort of degrades and diminishes the dishes, largely by wafting the smell of raw bourbon into your face when you bring the sauced food towards your face. It’s not outright horrible, not even the worst sauce I’ve had that has used liquor, but is also definitely not what I want in any sauce. 

Bottom line: Liquor in a sauce can work if handled carefully and gracefully. This one is a good example of when that doesn’t happen. 

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 0
            Flavor: 2
            Flexibility: 1
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 1

Overall: 1