Hot Ones – The Last Dab XXX Hot Sauce

Bitter: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰

Salty: ⭐✰✰✰✰

Sour: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Sweet: ✰✰✰✰✰

Umami: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Heat: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐✰✰✰

Quick Flavor Notes: Earthy, mustard, pepper, smoky, astringent

Texture: Medium-thick and mostly smooth

Recommended: Yes

Ingredients: Pepper X, chocolate pepper X, peach pepper X, distilled vinegar, ginger root, turmeric, coriander, cumin, dry mustard

While I’ve previously reviewed two other Hot Ones sauces, their The Classic Original and their Los Calientes Rojo, this is my first time taking on one of their Last Dab series, a version of which has taken the number ten position on the show every season from season four on. This particular sauce, The Last Dab XXX, was the ultimate sauce in the lineup for seasons ten, eleven, and twelve before being replaced by The Last Dab Apollo.

The XXX designation for The Hot Ones The Last Dab XXX comes from the sauce using three types of Pepper X – Pepper X (which is sort of a yellowish green in color), Chocolate Pepper X, and Peach Pepper X. In addition this sauce, made by Smokin’ Ed Currie just like all of The Last Dab series, contains various spices – ginger, coriander, cumin, dry mustard, and turmeric. This is also the final Last Dab sauce thus far that included any spices – the previous incarnations, The Last Dab (original), The Last Dab Reaper Edition, and The Last Dab Reduxx all had a similar spice blend, but The Last Dab Apollo and The Last Dab Experience are pure pepper with no additional flavor additions. This sauce is medium-thick and though blended smooth you can tell it has a high concentration of peppers as it does have an almost gritty texture. The aroma lets you know this sauce is full of super-hots, that distinctive high-capsaicin pepper aroma wafts out though there is a non-pepper spice undertone.

Pepper X is the dominant flavor in this sauce, and they remind me a lot of ghost peppers both in flavor profile and the way the heat comes in. While this sauce has some up-front heat it has a lot of slow-building lingering heat, very similar to ghost peppers, and it has that earthy slightly smoky flavor profile that ghost peppers have. The turmeric, which is a very earthy spice, likely adds to that deep earthy flavor profile, as well as yellow color of the sauce. Aside from the peppers I found the mustard to be the next dominant flavor. I enjoy mustard hot sauces, and in fact reviewed a Smokin’ Ed’s Pepper X Mustard Dill Hot Sauce previously. While the Mustard Dill was very mustard forward in The Last Dab XXX it plays a secondary second-fiddle, and along with the ginger and coriander does give the sauce a nice brightness. Being so super-hot pepper dominant there is some astringency, though not overpowering.

The elephant in the room with Hot Ones The Last Dab XXX, or indeed any The Last Dab sauce, is the purported Scoville Heat Units and positioning of the sauces in the lineup. It’s commonly accepted that perennial number eight slot sauce Da Bomb Beyond Insanity is actually the hottest sauce each year in the lineup. I can point to a number seven position sauce, Torchbearer’s Garlic Reaper and a number nine sauce, Queen Majesty’s Sicilian Scorpion, that are quite a bit hotter than The Last Dab XXX. That doesn’t mean that this sauce isn’t still very hot though, and in fact the first time I tried it eating a spoonful of it straight, it gave me instant hiccups.

With the earthy and mustardy flavor this sauce is a great pairing with pastrami sandwiches and tube-based meats. It’s also excellent as a dipping sauce for egg rolls. While it’s not a high acid sauce there’s enough acidity here that it also works well on sub sandwiches and for macaroni and cheese. With the strong pepper flavor I found this could overpower delicate foods, but if you’re having something that’s already robust in flavor and want to add a big chunk of heat this is a great option.

I’m happy to recommend The Hot Ones The Last Dab XXX Hot Sauce. It’s flavorful, very hot, and also all natural with no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or thickeners. The downside is that the price of this sauce is quite high, but it’s certainly worth trying once, especially if you can pick it up during one of Heatonist’s bigger sales.