Rectum Ripper XXX1/2: more does not equal better

 My friend Joe bought me this sauce for my birthday. It's the first sauce I'm reviewing that represents a vast cross-section of small batch hot sauces with crazy, vulgar titles. These sauces often use wacky names to appeal to wacky people who'd want to eat them; often made my hot freaks, these sauces appeal to other hot freaks and few others. This sauce is no exception. While you might not find this silly-named, grim reaper flashin' sauce in grandma's fridge, it's unique flavor earns it a serious look.

Let’s look at the facts: Made by Tahiti Joe's Hot Sauce out of West Palm Beach, FL, this sauce refuses to adhere to the belief that simplicity is bliss. Habanero Peppers, Apple Cider Vinegar, Crushed Tomatoes, Key Lime Juice, Clam Juice, Worcestershire, Honey, Carrots, Mustard, Ginger, Garlic In Water, Onions, Spices, and Tic Gum all come together in a, well, unnatural combination of flavors. Does it work? I'll try to be the judge for you... 

Good Hurts: It is what it says it is: a sauce made for hot sauce fanatics, and indeed it's about a 3.5 out of 5 on the spice scale. Too much for an average run-of-the-mill hot sauce, but not in the same destructive league as something like Dave's Insanity Sauce. The spice level will not disappoint you, but it won't actually scythe your ass off, either.

Flavor: The flavor is the real mystery behind this sauce. Just look at all those ingredients! I've read reviews that claimed that the Worchestershire sauce overpowers the sauce (true), but I think it's actually the clam juice that's the proverbial straw that breaks this camel's back. When I was a kid, my dad (for some reason) would let me mix all the ingredients we had into a big slurry. It was fun to do as a kid, but it ended up with an overpowering thick salty mustard smell. This sauce brings back those memories. While it doesn't actually taste awful, it's too much of fishy Worchestershire sauce to really showcase a simple flavor. You'd never be able to identify all those other interesting ingredients. More is not always better, Rectum Ripper.

Availability: By merit of ass-blasting name, Rectum Ripper is lurking in novelty hot sauce shops and, of course, on the internet. Their official website and countless e-sauce markets carry the stuff.

Good for: Another tricky question. This sauce has too much of a powerful condiment flavor to really just liven up chips or kick up a salsa, but might bode well on a sandwich as a replacement or addition to a hearty brown mustard/anchovy sauce. I try it on cold pizza sometimes, but it tastes a little unnatural, like the reaper himself.

REVIEW:

FLAVOR: *

HEAT: ***1/2

MY REVIEW: 5.9/10