Storied Louisiana hot-sauce brand Tabasco has decided to dip their toes into the spiced whiskey market – move over, Fireball – as they team up with Tennessee distillery George Dickel to celebrate the brand’s 150th anniversary.
For those that don’t know, Tabasco hot-sauce itself is produced not unlike a whiskey: with peppers, vinegar and spices all being combined before being left to ferment in oak barrels for 3 years. It’s those idle hot-sauce barrels, lightly imbued with their signature spiciness, that Dickel will use to flavor this limited edition whiskey.
Left in the used Tabasco barrels for 30 days, the whiskey comes out with an ethereal hint of the sauces signature spiciness. Some of the actual finished sauce itself is blended into the product before bottling.
Though we haven’t tasted it, we have to say we’re pretty curious about how the end-result might taste. Tabasco, after all, is a vinegar-based sauce, and even a hint of that acrid kind of acidity doesn’t seem like something that would go down too smoothly. Though the San Francisco World Spirit Awards said differently, awarding it their Gold Medal.
