Retro Review #3 Mad Dog Inferno

Mad Dog Inferno and Ashley food company have been in on the [tag]hot sauce[/tag] business from the get go. It seems for quite awhile their 357 Mad Dog Special Edition would reign supreme as the hottest 5oz hot sauce. Only Blair’s Mega Death and Jersey Death give it a run for the king of the 5oz. (there is a 5oz 1 Million extract bottle available but that is purely for extract argument sake and guess which company makes it).

So like many lines you start off with the original and then take it from there. For sake of this review we are going to stick with the original. I don’t even remember where I got this sauce from and I have no idea how long it has been sitting in my fridge. During the Holiday Hot Sauce Horror event this would have been the bottle I would have like to seen get smashed instead of my Blair’s Mega Death. So here I am still trying to finish it off.

Ingredients: Vinegar, unsulphured molasses, concentrated pepper extract, garlic, onion, jalapeno pepper, cloves, herbs & spices. This sauce is rated at 90,000 Scoville Units.

If you can’t tell by now I don’t like this sauce. But I think it deserves a fair shake here as this sauce has stood up over time. If you are a fan of hot sauces that contain molasses stop reading and go order a bottle. If you are a fan of extreme sauces and molasses, go and order two bottles now. If you don’t like molasses or extreme heat then move onto the next great HSB article.

As for Graphics it does the job. Personally I think my fiancée’s dog Bailey is more of a Mad Dog than this sauce. (We had to try and stop him from licking the bottle).

The sauce itself is thick and brown and the aroma is that of molasses and extract. Trying to pour it is “as slow as molasses”.

The heat – is hot, very hot. Remember this is an [tag]extract[/tag] sauce and it lets you know that really quick. I haven’t found a practical use for it outside of soup and chili. Quite simply I find the taste overpowering and the after taste as well as the heat stick around. It is a memorable sauce but not for me in a good way.

My rating is based on what I think the average chili-head would think. No wonder Ashley food has tried so hard to steer attention away from this and focus on their other super hots.

This Mad Dog is fit for the Dog House:
Packaging – 7/10
Aroma – 6/10
Appearance – 6/10
Taste – 4/10
Heat – 8.5/10
Overall – 6.0/10

Ashley Food Company
P.O. Box 912
Sudbury, MA 01776
Toll Free: 800-61-SAUCE
Fax: 978-579-8989
Office: 978-579-8988