Old Bones has blown me away!

Found these two bottles yesterday at a local butcher shop. Took a gamble on them as they were pretty expensive but I have been having a horrible week so I said f it. They had five different styles- Jalapeño, buffalo, smoked garlic chili, spicy smoked garlic chili, longhorn, and jawbreaker. I went with these two because i don’t care for jalapeño sauces as much, I do like most anything smoky, didn’t think I needed a buffalo sauce, and I wanted to try their hottest one. I now want to try the longhorn but they were expensive so I didn’t get three. I didn’t go for the spicier version of the smoked garlic chili since I knew the jawbreaker was already gonna have more than enough spice. Anyway these sauces have blown me away, especially since the ingredients seem so simple. I wasn’t expecting the incredible depth of flavor. I think it’s a little ironic that I never came across these during my hot sauce hunting while in Houston for three months, but find them in a small butcher shop in the middle of nowhere, Maine.

Smoked Garlic Chili Sauce $12. This sauce is surprisingly mild for having cayenne and habanero as its first two ingredients. I’m not sure if it’s the garlic, cayenne, or habanero that gets smoked but whichever it is adds a great umami flavor that really surprised me and combines with the garlic, heat and sweetness for perfectly balanced sauce. Haven’t decided if I wish I had got the spicier one because I like how I can use more of this one, but that probably means I’ll go through it faster. I’d probably give it a 3/10 spice and I don’t have a crazy tolerance.

Jawbreaker $17.50. Having Carolina reapers as its first ingredient (and only pepper), I knew what I was getting into. Powerful lingering spice but there is a split second where the sweetness hits my palate before being obliterated by heat. No smoke. Not the depth of flavor like the garlic chili had, but the salt, sugar, and garlic help surround the Carolinas and round out the profile of the sauce. Probably an 8.5/10 for spice. Would be great in a chili and I bet it would make a killer spicy ranch to dip pizza crusts in.