Manufacturer: Race City Sauce Works
Website: http://www.racecitysauceworks.com/
Ingredients: smoked chile peppers, cider vinegar, tomato puree, raisin puree, smoked, garlic, onion, sweet potato, bourbon, herbs, brown sugar, spices, salt, xanthan gum
Moonshiners Run Whisky Barrel looks like your pretty average decent-quality sauce; blended well, with that nice dark rusty color that I’ve come to trust. The label is a bit busy, but very slick looking – like spit-shined business-casual Coop art. Had this sauce been sitting on a shelf, the dark label may not be as eye-catching as some of the other in-your-face hot sauce labels, and I may not have noticed it, or given it a second glance. The company name stands proud at the top, Race City Sauce Works. In smaller print below, partially obstructed by the art, reads “Moonshiners Run Whisky Barrel Hot Sauce.” Definitely the longest name for a hot sauce I’ve seen.
A man such as myself would have been much more tempted to pick this up if the preceding text was easier to read; if perhaps the flames in the image on the bottle could have been cropped up a bit, or the image shifted up to make more room for the text. I’m getting picky here, but these thoughts crossed my mind when I received the bottle, and each time I pick it up - which is a lot. But we’ll get to that.
I will unabashedly say, under no uncertain terms, this is perhaps the best hot sauce I’ve ever had. Creepin’ Quag is the only other sauce that I can compare it to, but they are totally dissimilar. Quag made incredible use of cranberries to create a taste so sweet and unique that I just wanted to put it on everything, and Moonshiners Run Whisky Barrel Hot Sauce has brought me once again to that point by way of raisin puree, bourbon, sweet potatoes and brown sugar. It has been a difficult time for me, nearing the end of the bottle, knowing I will be running out – and knowing also that I rarely purchase sauces, as I’ve been in a constant battle to catch up with reviews. A great sadness is consuming me, but with optimism I look to the future, hoping that one day I will have no more sauces to review, and will be able to restock my supply of MRWBHS. And that day will be a fine day indeed.
MRWBHS can be used on literally anything and everything. It pours thin and fast, a testament to it's heat level, which I would place somewhere between mild and medium (call it tex-mex hot). As a ketchup substitute, for fried food, burgers, chicken, even as a dip for steamed or stir-fried vegetables, it just works. It goes just as well on a chicken breast Panini as a cheeseburger. The raisin puree, bourbon and sweet potatoes lend a sweetness that goes with virtually anything you’d want to put a sauce on.
The bourbon flavor isn’t overpowering, but it definitely isn’t shy. If I can say anything about MRWBHS, it’s that it isn’t afraid to be what it is. All the ingredients, the raisin puree, the bourbon, they’re all palatable; and it’s something I’m thankful for. Too often are sauces almost apologetic about using unconventional ingredients – barely detectable under the pepper, garlic, onion or tomato base.
The flavor is complex, sweet and fresh, but the peppers remain the focal point – as it is first and foremost a hot sauce. The burn is clean, it almost seems to come from somewhere else. The taste of this sauce betrays all existence of heat, creating the illusion that your tongue is warming of its own accord, an interesting sensation to put it mildly.
The below picture was of a chicken breast Panini, with arugula, brie and fig spread. I realize it doesn't showcase the sauce in any meaningful fashion, but I assure you, this was a delicious sandwich.
As an aside, for those of you who are craft-beer lovers, I need to mention that every time I have this sauce it makes me want to grab a six pack of Jefferson’s Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout.
Race City Sauce Works Moonshiners Run Whisky Barrel Hot Sauce is exactly what a general-purpose hot sauce should be; bold flavors, mild burn, fresh taste, a bit salty, a bit sweet and totally awesome. Two victory laps, a burnout and a checkered flag for you, Race City. This one is a winner.
Flavor: 10/10. I can't say anything that hasn't already been said.
Heat, from Nada to Naga: 2.5/10. Could have a bit more kick to it, but not if it'll change the flavor.
Overall: 10/10. Thank you, Race City. The pleasure has been all mine.
Website: http://www.racecitysauceworks.com/
Ingredients: smoked chile peppers, cider vinegar, tomato puree, raisin puree, smoked, garlic, onion, sweet potato, bourbon, herbs, brown sugar, spices, salt, xanthan gum
Moonshiners Run Whisky Barrel looks like your pretty average decent-quality sauce; blended well, with that nice dark rusty color that I’ve come to trust. The label is a bit busy, but very slick looking – like spit-shined business-casual Coop art. Had this sauce been sitting on a shelf, the dark label may not be as eye-catching as some of the other in-your-face hot sauce labels, and I may not have noticed it, or given it a second glance. The company name stands proud at the top, Race City Sauce Works. In smaller print below, partially obstructed by the art, reads “Moonshiners Run Whisky Barrel Hot Sauce.” Definitely the longest name for a hot sauce I’ve seen.
A man such as myself would have been much more tempted to pick this up if the preceding text was easier to read; if perhaps the flames in the image on the bottle could have been cropped up a bit, or the image shifted up to make more room for the text. I’m getting picky here, but these thoughts crossed my mind when I received the bottle, and each time I pick it up - which is a lot. But we’ll get to that.
I will unabashedly say, under no uncertain terms, this is perhaps the best hot sauce I’ve ever had. Creepin’ Quag is the only other sauce that I can compare it to, but they are totally dissimilar. Quag made incredible use of cranberries to create a taste so sweet and unique that I just wanted to put it on everything, and Moonshiners Run Whisky Barrel Hot Sauce has brought me once again to that point by way of raisin puree, bourbon, sweet potatoes and brown sugar. It has been a difficult time for me, nearing the end of the bottle, knowing I will be running out – and knowing also that I rarely purchase sauces, as I’ve been in a constant battle to catch up with reviews. A great sadness is consuming me, but with optimism I look to the future, hoping that one day I will have no more sauces to review, and will be able to restock my supply of MRWBHS. And that day will be a fine day indeed.
MRWBHS can be used on literally anything and everything. It pours thin and fast, a testament to it's heat level, which I would place somewhere between mild and medium (call it tex-mex hot). As a ketchup substitute, for fried food, burgers, chicken, even as a dip for steamed or stir-fried vegetables, it just works. It goes just as well on a chicken breast Panini as a cheeseburger. The raisin puree, bourbon and sweet potatoes lend a sweetness that goes with virtually anything you’d want to put a sauce on.
The bourbon flavor isn’t overpowering, but it definitely isn’t shy. If I can say anything about MRWBHS, it’s that it isn’t afraid to be what it is. All the ingredients, the raisin puree, the bourbon, they’re all palatable; and it’s something I’m thankful for. Too often are sauces almost apologetic about using unconventional ingredients – barely detectable under the pepper, garlic, onion or tomato base.
The flavor is complex, sweet and fresh, but the peppers remain the focal point – as it is first and foremost a hot sauce. The burn is clean, it almost seems to come from somewhere else. The taste of this sauce betrays all existence of heat, creating the illusion that your tongue is warming of its own accord, an interesting sensation to put it mildly.
The below picture was of a chicken breast Panini, with arugula, brie and fig spread. I realize it doesn't showcase the sauce in any meaningful fashion, but I assure you, this was a delicious sandwich.
As an aside, for those of you who are craft-beer lovers, I need to mention that every time I have this sauce it makes me want to grab a six pack of Jefferson’s Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout.
Race City Sauce Works Moonshiners Run Whisky Barrel Hot Sauce is exactly what a general-purpose hot sauce should be; bold flavors, mild burn, fresh taste, a bit salty, a bit sweet and totally awesome. Two victory laps, a burnout and a checkered flag for you, Race City. This one is a winner.
Flavor: 10/10. I can't say anything that hasn't already been said.
Heat, from Nada to Naga: 2.5/10. Could have a bit more kick to it, but not if it'll change the flavor.
Overall: 10/10. Thank you, Race City. The pleasure has been all mine.
