Dawson’s Hot Sauce – Cedar Smoked Garlic

Bitter: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Salty: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰

Sour/Tangy: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Sweet: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Umami: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰

Heat: ⭐⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰

Quick Flavor Notes: Garlicky, resiny/piney, umami, tangy

Texture: Very thick with some chewy bits

Recommended: Yes

Ingredients: White Wine Vinegar, Habanero, Garlic, Onion, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Sea Salt, Sumac

Dawson’s Hot Sauce out of Hamilton, ON Canada got its start when Brodie Dawson decided to turn his creative passion from music to sauce back in 2013. Since then they’ve had several sauces show up on Hot Ones, including this one which appeared in the number two spot in season seventeen. I’ve previously tried Dawson’s Sichuan Ghost and loved it (and need to pick up another bottle to do a full review) as well as their collaboration with La Pimenterie, Mycelium, which was equally spectacular. This sauce intrigued me as cedar isn’t a flavor I’d seen in a hot sauce before.

Something I appreciate about Dawson’s Hot Sauce is that they do keep their ingredients lists clean and all natural. In the case of this sauce the attention to specific ingredients is also notable. While it doesn’t list it on the bottle Dawson’s does mention on the website that the habaneros used in this sauce are fermented which will bring more complex flavors. The garlic is smoked over cedar wood, a technique often used for salmon but which I’ve never seen with garlic. The use of white wine vinegar, a softer and less harsh vinegar choice, gives the sauce acidity without the harsh distilled vinegar bite. Sumac, appearing at the end of the list, is a Middle Eastern spice which has a tart and citrusy flavor. This sauce is very thick in consistency, coming out in little clumps instead of as a flow, and it does have some small bits of texture inside. The cedar and garlic are both prominent in the aroma of the sauce, and perhaps the sumac as well as there’s a unique exotic scent from the bottle.

Holy Garlic, Batman! Dawson’s Hot Sauce Cedar Smoked Garlic is one of the most garlicky hot sauces I’ve ever tasted. Since the garlic is smoked it’s more mellow and rich than the brighter aggressive flavor of fresh garlic but it’s still very powerful and a bit pungent (which isn’t a bad thing). The fermented habaneros take second fiddle but do bring some fruit, tang (along with that white wine vinegar), and brightness with their characteristic quick heat. I haven’t had much sumac before but I believe I can pick up some of those citrusy notes from it as well. The olive oil adds richness to the sauce, something Dawson’s uses in their Sichuan Ghost and several of their other sauces. A bit of oil also helps carry the fat soluble flavor elements from the peppers and the other ingredients. Cedar smoke reminds me a bit of mesquite but more piney, sort of if you were to take the earthy, resiny flavor of mesquite smoke and combine it with the piney aroma and flavor of juniper. That cedar flavor sneaks in right after the garlic with the habaneros and lingers on the tongue longer after the other flavors dissipate. It’s not overly smoky as a sauce and that woodsy flavor at the end is unique and compelling. Acidity is well balanced without tasting vinegary and there’s a hint of sweetness from the smoked garlic and onions but also a deep rich savory umami sensation from the sauce.

I enjoy garlic in a lot of food so I felt this would be an easy sauce to pair. With the big garlic and the tart sumac and habanero flavors I tried this with some frozen dinner shrimp scampi pasta and thought the combination was very harmonious. With some white bean and ham soup I found the garlic flavor a little bit overwhelming but the citrus and resiny smokey notes were a nice addition. Similarly I found the garlic flavor to overwhelm steak but it was great with the loaded baked potato on the side. This does also make for some killer super-garlicky chicken wings.

Dawson’s Hot Sauce Cedar Smoked Garlic gets my recommendation with the caveat that you have to really love garlic. This sauce is quite a bit more garlicky than Garlic Reaper or Ghostly Garlic Fusion, at least to my tastebuds, but if you love garlic this one will absolutely deliver. The cedar flavors and the unexpected sumac element also elevate this to something more than the basic garlic hot sauce. This sauce is also all natural with no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or thickeners.