The Taste Bud: Kevin samples Peppers-R-Paradise Bourbon Barrel Aged Extreme hot sauce

The Taste Bud: Kevin samples Peppers-R-Paradise Bourbon Barrel Aged Extreme hot sauce

Our friend and colleague Kevin Gibson recently has embarked upon a voyage (“Chasing Heat”) of hot pepper exploration, as randomly documented here.

Voyeurs of a masochistic bent surely will enjoy leafing through Kevin’s exercises in pepper ingestion. As one enjoying less tolerance to pain, my passive contribution is the following link to the heat chaser’s column “The Taste Bud,” describing a fortuitous Tailspin Ale Fest meeting with Louisville native David Pennington Smith and exposure to Smith’s Peppers-R-Paradise wares.

The Taste Bud: Peppers-R-Paradise Bourbon Barrel Aged Extreme Hot Sauce Brings the Flavor with Fire

While I chatted with him – and my fiancee Cynthia waited ever-so-patiently – I tried a few of the sauces, such as Smokin’ Jerk Paradise (one of the better Jerk marinades I can recall trying), Scarlet Sting (fiery and delicious, if pretty straightforward) and Ghostly Black Garlic BBQ (a wonderfully rich and savory/spicy barbecue sauce). But I managed to somehow save the best for last: Bourbon Barrel Aged Extreme.

Like Scarlet Sting, the sauce is made with Ghost, Scorpion and Carolina Reaper peppers, although in the Bourbon Barrel version, obviously, bourbon touches the peppers...Read more