Secret Aardvark Habanero Sauce, Red, 8 fl oz., Updated Version

Personal favorite. Keep bottle in house always. Great flavor and habanero heat

Love this stuff and they have other variations, such as Chipotle, that I love as well.

I regret ordering this only because it’s so good I can’t stop eating it, and I’m putting it on everything. For example, I’m eating an apple as I write this and squirting some of this delicious habanero hot sauce on it before each bite. Heat wise, I’d say this is more on the low end of medium heat. I do admit I love fiery hot so your heat level tolerance may vary. For those that like really hot habanero sauce you will probably agree with me that it’s on the low end of medium heat – meaning just slightly above mild. But the flavor of this hot sauce is so outrageously delicious I’m not minding the low-level heat at all.

I’m really enjoying having this in the pantry. It has quickly earned a permanent spot in my rotation alongside my other go-to sauces. What sets it apart is the balance; it has a distinct sweetness from the roasted tomatoes that hits right before that habanero heat kicks in. It’s the kind of heat you can actually feel in your nostrils, but it isn't overwhelming. It’s incredibly versatile—I’ve been using it on everything from sardines and morning eggs to tacos and even in Bloody Marys. It’s a unique flavor profile that doesn't taste like your standard grocery store hot sauce.

So the title kind of says it all. Let me start with the good things, the sauce tastes fine, the heat level is very low, it does build a little bit and come with the typical Habanero tongue burn (if you don't know what that means, it feels like pin pricks. They're not unpleasant but it feels like little stabbing needles of heat). The heat level is maybe a 4 out of 10 very pleasant heat. The flavors are well balanced, and the actually flavor for me gets a solid 6 1/2 or 7 out of 10. My problem with the flavor is a personal preference. I like a Mexican style hot sauce but the flavor isn't my personal favorite. If you enjoy a Mexican style sauce you'll like this more than my rating. It goes excellent on tacos and burritos and would probably great on chicken or pork chops. It's also a thick and chunkier sauce which I also give points for. I think the ingredients are quality and you can taste that in this sauce for sure. I'm comparing this sauce to other Habanero sauces I enjoy and this sits in the middle of the pack for me. I think one of my favorite Habanero sauces is the Yellow Bird sauce as the flavor of that sauce is a very green (fresh) tasting sauce with high quality ingredients that seems more neutral (or at least not a Mexican style sauce). Also the Yellow Bird while not extremely hot either is hotter than this sauce while going great on more things in my opinion. I would absolutely recommend this sauce though, I think if you're looking for a bit of heat with a lot of flavor without over doing it I think this sits right in that perfect pocket where non-chili heads can live a little dangerously without the rest of it being too much for them. So if you're looking for a thick, decent tasting Mexican style hot sauce that isn't a scorcher than this has got you covered. If you're not extremely keen for Mexican sauce or tomatoes you might want to skip this, or do what I did and buy it to see what the fuss is all about. I don't regret buying it and definitely think the quality is there.