Recently, we had a chance to have a party where we were able to give a few wing sauces a try to be able to compare and contrast. Compare and contrast? Sounds like English class. Anyhoo, this fine sauce from Danny Cash was one of the ones we had, and was the first Jolokia wing sauce we had actually used for ourselves rather than just on a tasting spoon at an industry show. We have been long-time fans of the whole line of Danny Cash products, so we had expectations that this product would continue their line of quality hot & spicy products. (Apologies for the use of a stock photo for the bottle…ours did not photograph terribly well.)

Ingredients: Naga Jolokia Ghost Chiles, habanero & cayenne peppers, REAL BUTTER, vinegar, garlic, onion, black pepper & salt

Like the last wing review we did, our buffalo wings were not made the way most are currently done. Rather than deep-frying them up and freshly dropping them in the sauce, ours were already cooked and were slathered on and gently baked to really get the

sauce coated on the wings.

I have to admit, opening the bottle reveals a pretty inviting aroma. Sure you can always pick up a vinegary smell, but that goes for nearly every wing sauce. Beneath that, there is a delightful mix of peppers (and what must be butter) that just lets you believe that it is going to be spicy. The sauce is fairly thick and has a look of pureed peppers with a hint of butter. The bottle is a whopping 14 ounces, which is good for a fairly large batch of chicken wings.

Taste: I have always expected Ghost chile wing sauces to simply be overwhelming with heat, but this one does well to avoid that pitfall…which seems to owe to the inclusion of the cayenne and habanero peppers in the sauce. The taste right out of the bottle tastes much like a habanero sauce with that familiar mouth feel. I liked the buttery taste to the sauce, and the heat which was initially moderately hot really kicks up a notch when the Ghost chile heat hits you about a minute after you taste it.

When cooked on wings, I thought the taste factor ratchets up hugely. Not to be overtly obvious, but this sauce tastes better when cooked. The sauce is just such a great blend of peppers, and despite the heat, has so much TASTE for a spicy-hot wing sauce. Warning though…the heat is cumulative. I thought the base heat level was about 7/10, but after about a half dozen wings I found myself sucking wind a little. Nice.

Overall recommendation: There aren’t a large number of wing sauces in my pantheon of ones I would want to have more than a few times, but this sauce would certainly be on a short list of those I would consider. Thick, spicy, and addictingly good. Even the diehard chileheads will be able to appreciate the blend of flavor and heat with this sauce. Cook up some wings and enjoy!