Hank Sauce – Iceman

Bitter: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Salty: ⭐✰✰✰✰

Sour/Tangy: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰

Sweet: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Umami: ⭐✰✰✰✰

Heat: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰

Quick Flavor Notes: Fresh, vegetal, fruity

Texture: Medium with a textured puree

Recommended: Yes

Ingredients: vinegar, habanero peppers, garlic, whiskey, salted butter (sweet cream, salt), olive oil, cilantro, xanthan gum.

According to the Hank Sauce website Iceman was created spontaneously on a cold New Jersey winter’s night and later named after the man responsible for replenishing the ice at a festival they attended who loved their sauce. Billed as Hank Sauce’s hottest sauce and one of the few that doesn’t use their typical aged cayenne base (though Fish Whistle which I recently reviewed is another) I was curious to give it a try.

Iceman begins with vinegar and habanero peppers. Hank’s Heat also uses habaneros but they’re much further down the ingredients list. Based on the color of the sauce, which is a sort of mustard yellow color, I’m assuming they’re using yellow or orange habaneros here. Like most Hank Sauce sauces this sauce includes real butter, great for adding some richness, and interestingly olive oil as well. The real special ingredient I haven’t seen in their sauces before however, and something rare to see in any hot sauce, is whiskey. The alcohol in the sauce should help release more flavor compounds than vinegar would on its own. It’s the same concept as alla vodka pasta sauce – you don’t taste the actual vodka in the sauce (as vodka has pretty much no flavor on its own anyway) but certain flavor compounds are more soluble in alcohol than in water so the tomatoes taste more tomato-y with the addition of the vodka. Add in the oils (butter and olive) and this sauce should hit on all cylinders as far as carrying the widest range of flavors from the peppers and other ingredients. Iceman also includes some garlic and cilantro as aromatics. This sauce also has the most texture of any Hank Sauce sauce I’ve thus tried, more of a medium-thick pulpy puree than the ultra-smooth puree most of their sauces are. The peppers and garlic are the most prominent aromas.

The habanero flavor is front and center with Hank Sauce Iceman. With the alcohol and fats in the sauce you’re hit full in the face with the full spectrum fruity, intensely vegetal and grassy, and fresh habanero flavor. The whiskey flavor is very subtle, if anything only showing up as a very subtle aftertaste after the habanero flavor fades. The cilantro is likely adding to the freshness here, it’s a bright herb, and thankfully treated well and retains that freshness, something rare in hot sauces. The garlic is big on the nose of the sauce but not as big of a flavor element. I can taste some garlic in it but it’s not a garlic-heavy sauce. Because of that intense fresh flavor of this sauce I actually feel like it could use some more salt to enhance the savoriness. Looking at the ingredients label the only salt in it seems to come from what’s naturally in the salted butter which is low enough that it still reads as 0mg sodium on the label. Despite the butter and olive oil this sauce isn’t creamy or particularly rich. In fact their smooth red sauces from their Core Four line (such as Hank Sauce Camouflage, a favorite of mine) come off as richer. I won’t complain about a sauce tasting too fresh however, as I do love myself a fresh tasting sauce. The intense freshness combined with the natural fruity flavors of the habanero do lend this sauce a sweet taste despite not having any sugar. The heat level is on the lower side of medium witch a quick initial bite and then a short dwindling tail, typical of habaneros.

I expected this sauce to be easier to pair than it is. Habaneros, garlic, and cilantro generally go well with many foods as do butter and olive oil. Something about that very fresh habanero flavor in this however made it come off differently than other habanero sauces I’ve had, perhaps it’s a subtle undertone flavor of the whiskey coming in. I found this worked best with cleaner simpler flavored foods. On a turkey sandwich its great, adding fresh pepper flavor and heat. On a meatball sub it didn’t work, the fresh flavors of the peppers fighting the tomato sauce. Putting some in a bowl of chicken soup worked well but in chili it was a bit too bright. Macaroni and cheese was a great pairing here – the brightness and acidity punching through the rich creaminess and making it taste like green chile mac and cheese.

Despite more-limited-than-expected pairing options I did enjoy this sauce and will recommend it. Plus, as with all Hank Sauce sauces you do get 8oz instead of the more common 5oz woozy bottles, so you do get more sauce for your buck. If you’re looking for a very fresh habanero sauce this is one to check out. It’s also a great option for those on low sodium diets.