Rufus Teague Diablo Limonajo
Background
When the origin story of most barbecue sauces are more-or-less the same, it doesn't hurt to have something that's a bit different. That may be why the founder of the Rufus Teague brand, John McCone, invented a tale of an old timey barbecue master who bottled his sauce in old whiskey flasks. When you look under the hood though, you get the more common scenario of a man who took up the barbecue craft after a fateful Father's Day gift prompted him to do so, then winning a competition pushed him to the next level where he decided to begin to bottle and sell his sauces. Rufus Teague isn't a complete fabrication though, "Teague" is actually a surname from the maternal side of John's family. One other thing that is true about this brand is that it's one of the few that I consistently see bringing new and unique recipes to grocery shelves, which is why it's one of the only brands I've consistently returned to over and over again throughout my years of reviewing. Rufus Teague is now up to ten different sauces in their line-up, which also includes numerous rubs, other sauce types, nuts, chips, and coffees.
Aroma
From the first whiff, this barbecue sauce has a very unique character with a standard tangy tomato base that has strong notes of garlic and lemon, the later enhancing the over all tartness as well. A heavy pepper component is noticeable too, but comes into sharper focus with a deeper noseful that also has a smokiness and sharpness which leads you to believe there will be a good amount of heat in the taste. There's also an underlaying savoriness to the sauce that has the hallmark smell of soy sauce, and just the smallest hint of sugar, which is probably being covered up by the peppers and acids.
Thickness & Texture
This maroon and glossy sauce is semi-opaque, making it easy to see a lot of spices that come in medium black dots along with smaller white and red ones. The sauce's thickness weighs in at medium thin and it has a consistency akin to a tomato paste melded with honey and water. The sauce flows from a suspended spoon in a fast and chunky pour that slows to a number of medium drips before stopping and leaving a thin coating left covering the silverware.
Out of the Jar
A deep smokey tomato taste starts off the flavor profile, and the light touch of sweetness that the sauce has is quickly drowned out by a tartness that's a combo of vinegar and lemon. It only takes a moment for the peppers to then come in and start the heat off early while also enhancing the fruitiness. The spiciness holds back for a few seconds, which allows strong garlic and soy sauce components to add a lot of depth to the flavor. From then on though, the peppers are the main story with a medium heat that builds to a pretty fiery crescendo as the sauce makes its exit, leaving a burning tongue that still retains the imprint of heavy tang too.
Slathered & Cooked
The sauce brushed onto the chicken in a medium, even layer that took a bit longer to set than the average sauce. The delayed setting led to higher than normal sauce loss when moved over direct heat, while there was only minimal caramelization. A final brushing was applied to even out the sauce layer before sampling. From the first bite, the label's promises were delivered with tastes of lemon, garlic, and peppers all present against a tangy and sweet tomato barbecue base. All of these flavors continued to hold up well until about halfway through the leg, at which point the peppers really began to dominate and make the spiciness the main attraction from then on.
Put to Use
I must commend the Rufus Teague brand for taking some chances on flavor profiles over the years, it's the reason why they keep showing up in my reviews, but also the reason why they come in a bit all over the scoring map. I was intrigued by how the flavors of this Diablo Limonajo would come together, and for me, they did pretty well. I like big flavors, and this sauce does not dance around nuance at all—from the garlic to lemon to pepper, all are in your face along with the standard tomato and vinegar as well. I could see how it could taste like too much and a bit confused to some folks, but for someone who has done over 300 barbecue sauce reviews, a sauce like this kind of stands out from the crowd. Although I love a spicy sauce, the peppers in this one became quite dominant both out of the jar and after being cooked, so it wasn't in my top tier for this category. Still, if you're looking for something different and can handle the heat, there's a lot to like in this bottle, just be careful because it will certainly overpower a lot of foods. That makes it best suited for heartier things like burgers and ribs, unless heat is the primary focus, like in chicken wings.
