Ingredients: Honey, Apple Cider Vinegar, Tomato Paste, Water, Garlic, Ghost Pepper, Habanero, Distilled White Vinegar, Brown Sugar, Canola Oil, Lemon Juice, Molasses, Mandarin Oranges, Diced Tomato, Carrots, Mustard Powder, Turmeric, Garlic Powder, Onions, Salt, Crushed Red Pepper, White Sugar, Chili Powder, Oregano, Black Pepper
Torchbearer’s Son of Zombie is an interesting sauce in that it began life as a fan creation blending three of Torchbearer’s other sauces – their Chipotle Barbecue Sauce, Honey Garlic Sauce, and Zombie Apocalypse Hot Sauce. I’ve previously reviewed their Zombie Apocalypse and found it to be one of my favorite sauces in the Torchbearer lineup. Son of Zombie appeared on Hot Ones Season Six in the number four position and was the second Torchbearer sauce on the show after their original Zombie Apocalypse.
The ingredients are what you’d expect from mixing the three sauces that make it up. This does have the ghost peppers and habaneros from Zombie Apocalypse, the honey and garlic from Honey Garlic Sauce, molasses and chipotle peppers from the Chipotle Barbecue Sauce, plus a mix of other aromatics, fruits, and sweet and savory ingredients from all three. The sauce leans heavily into the sweet ingredients with the first by volume being honey and then adding in the molasses as well as brown and white sugar plus mandarin oranges. Mustard, garlic, onions, and savory spices such as oregano, black pepper, and chili powder attempt to balance that sweetness out. You can tell this is a sugar-heavy sauce in the texture which is thick and syrupy, though the aroma does give hints that some heat lurks beneath.
While Torchbearer calls this a wing sauce in terms of flavor I feel this leans much more heavily into being a barbecue sauce. Sweet and smoky are the first flavors that hit your palate. The chipotles and the natural smoky flavor element of the ghost peppers both bring that smoldering smoky taste forward, while the honey, molasses, tomato paste, and vinegar, all common ingredients in barbecue sauces, give that sweet and tangy element. I can taste the Zombie Apocalypse flavors underneath and the savory spices and aromatics do an admirable job of counterbalancing the sweet. That being said this sauce is very sweet, not quite dessert sauce sweet, but close to as sweet as the grocery store shelf barbecue sauces such as Sweet Baby Ray’s. I’ll admit that I don’t like barbecue sauce (or indeed barbecue in general for that matter, at least the typical super smoky low-and-slow variety) so for me the blanket of sweet on top of Zombie Apocalypse wasn’t an improvement, though I do think Zombie Apocalypse with maybe just a bit of chipotle could be very tasty. The added sweetness as well as the dilution of the peppers by volume also makes this sauce much milder than the Zombie Apocalypse.
Since Torchbearer calls it a wing sauce I decided to try this on some wings first. I found this is a solid sauce for wings when you’re in the mood for a smoky barbecue style wing. They reminded me a bit of a spicier version of the old KFC Honey BBQ Wings which I would get a craving for about once a year. I found Son of Zombie to be too sweet and too low acidity to be a great sandwich sauce though it does work on a hot dog, again bringing to mind those backyard BBQs where whoever is on the grill is just slathering everything in barbecue sauce. Since this sauce is essentially a spicy barbecue sauce I decided to give a shot on some ribs. I normally prefer a purely savory dry rub the few times I have ribs, but I was able to pick up some pre-cooked unsauced ribs at the grocery store and coated the with Son of Zombie. As a barbecue sauce this is more successful than any store bought barbecue sauce I’ve tried, the ghost peppers and savory elements providing better balance.
Torchbearer’s Son of Zombie Wing Sauce isn’t a bad sauce by any means, and if you love barbecue sauce this will be a winner for you. For me this won’t be a re-buy as I’m not a barbecue sauce fan, and because I find the original Zombie Apocalypse to be far more to my tastes. I’ll give this a conditional recommendation – if you like barbecue sauce, sweet heat type sauces, or you find the original Zombie Apocalypse to be too hot then this is certainly one you should check out. If you prefer sauces that lean far more towards the savory than the sweet and you want something with more intense heat then go for the Zombie Apocalypse over this one. This sauce is all natural with no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or thickeners.
Stunning_Ad7457
Excellent review. I’m a big fan of sweet heat and this is one of my favorite wing sauces. I find it compliments Meat Church’s Holy Voodoo rub. I hadn’t thought about it on ribs but when I get home next year I will definitely smoke some and give it a try!
stang54
I enjoyed it, it’s like Pick A Peppa sauce with a little kick.
erufffer
I need to bring some of their hot sauces into our shop. We’ve had some customers asking for it and probably time to get it in.
CLR1971
This is quickly becoming one of my favorites brands. Love the 3 I have purchased!
TorchBearer_Andy
Great review! I agree with the BBQ sauce take as I use it that way often. It’s good as a meatloaf topper instead of ketchup too
Warrenj3nku
I have a bottle of this at work and home. That and the dirty dicks sauce are just good staples.
7 Comments
Bitter: ⭐✰✰✰✰
Salty: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Sour: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Sweet: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰
Umami: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Heat: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰
Quick Flavor Notes: Sweet, Smoky, Garlicky, Ghost Pepper
Texture: Medium-thick and syrupy
Recommended: Conditional
Ingredients: Honey, Apple Cider Vinegar, Tomato Paste, Water, Garlic, Ghost Pepper, Habanero, Distilled White Vinegar, Brown Sugar, Canola Oil, Lemon Juice, Molasses, Mandarin Oranges, Diced Tomato, Carrots, Mustard Powder, Turmeric, Garlic Powder, Onions, Salt, Crushed Red Pepper, White Sugar, Chili Powder, Oregano, Black Pepper
Torchbearer’s Son of Zombie is an interesting sauce in that it began life as a fan creation blending three of Torchbearer’s other sauces – their Chipotle Barbecue Sauce, Honey Garlic Sauce, and Zombie Apocalypse Hot Sauce. I’ve previously reviewed their Zombie Apocalypse and found it to be one of my favorite sauces in the Torchbearer lineup. Son of Zombie appeared on Hot Ones Season Six in the number four position and was the second Torchbearer sauce on the show after their original Zombie Apocalypse.
The ingredients are what you’d expect from mixing the three sauces that make it up. This does have the ghost peppers and habaneros from Zombie Apocalypse, the honey and garlic from Honey Garlic Sauce, molasses and chipotle peppers from the Chipotle Barbecue Sauce, plus a mix of other aromatics, fruits, and sweet and savory ingredients from all three. The sauce leans heavily into the sweet ingredients with the first by volume being honey and then adding in the molasses as well as brown and white sugar plus mandarin oranges. Mustard, garlic, onions, and savory spices such as oregano, black pepper, and chili powder attempt to balance that sweetness out. You can tell this is a sugar-heavy sauce in the texture which is thick and syrupy, though the aroma does give hints that some heat lurks beneath.
While Torchbearer calls this a wing sauce in terms of flavor I feel this leans much more heavily into being a barbecue sauce. Sweet and smoky are the first flavors that hit your palate. The chipotles and the natural smoky flavor element of the ghost peppers both bring that smoldering smoky taste forward, while the honey, molasses, tomato paste, and vinegar, all common ingredients in barbecue sauces, give that sweet and tangy element. I can taste the Zombie Apocalypse flavors underneath and the savory spices and aromatics do an admirable job of counterbalancing the sweet. That being said this sauce is very sweet, not quite dessert sauce sweet, but close to as sweet as the grocery store shelf barbecue sauces such as Sweet Baby Ray’s. I’ll admit that I don’t like barbecue sauce (or indeed barbecue in general for that matter, at least the typical super smoky low-and-slow variety) so for me the blanket of sweet on top of Zombie Apocalypse wasn’t an improvement, though I do think Zombie Apocalypse with maybe just a bit of chipotle could be very tasty. The added sweetness as well as the dilution of the peppers by volume also makes this sauce much milder than the Zombie Apocalypse.
Since Torchbearer calls it a wing sauce I decided to try this on some wings first. I found this is a solid sauce for wings when you’re in the mood for a smoky barbecue style wing. They reminded me a bit of a spicier version of the old KFC Honey BBQ Wings which I would get a craving for about once a year. I found Son of Zombie to be too sweet and too low acidity to be a great sandwich sauce though it does work on a hot dog, again bringing to mind those backyard BBQs where whoever is on the grill is just slathering everything in barbecue sauce. Since this sauce is essentially a spicy barbecue sauce I decided to give a shot on some ribs. I normally prefer a purely savory dry rub the few times I have ribs, but I was able to pick up some pre-cooked unsauced ribs at the grocery store and coated the with Son of Zombie. As a barbecue sauce this is more successful than any store bought barbecue sauce I’ve tried, the ghost peppers and savory elements providing better balance.
Torchbearer’s Son of Zombie Wing Sauce isn’t a bad sauce by any means, and if you love barbecue sauce this will be a winner for you. For me this won’t be a re-buy as I’m not a barbecue sauce fan, and because I find the original Zombie Apocalypse to be far more to my tastes. I’ll give this a conditional recommendation – if you like barbecue sauce, sweet heat type sauces, or you find the original Zombie Apocalypse to be too hot then this is certainly one you should check out. If you prefer sauces that lean far more towards the savory than the sweet and you want something with more intense heat then go for the Zombie Apocalypse over this one. This sauce is all natural with no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or thickeners.
Excellent review. I’m a big fan of sweet heat and this is one of my favorite wing sauces. I find it compliments Meat Church’s Holy Voodoo rub. I hadn’t thought about it on ribs but when I get home next year I will definitely smoke some and give it a try!
I enjoyed it, it’s like Pick A Peppa sauce with a little kick.
I need to bring some of their hot sauces into our shop. We’ve had some customers asking for it and probably time to get it in.
This is quickly becoming one of my favorites brands. Love the 3 I have purchased!
Great review! I agree with the BBQ sauce take as I use it that way often. It’s good as a meatloaf topper instead of ketchup too
I have a bottle of this at work and home. That and the dirty dicks sauce are just good staples.