Review: Cholula Extra Hot Is A Subtle Spicy Remix With Original Flavor

Chili heads rejoice! There's a new kid on the block for you to meet. The folks at Cholula are turning up the heat this year with something that promises to knock the socks off of even the spiciest food lover. Introducing Cholula Extra Hot, the cheeky cousin of the classic sauce. This sauce is premiering just in time for National Hot Sauce Day. It is available online now for $5.99 a bottle, but will be distributed to retailers nationwide beginning this Spring.

Inspired by the original recipe, which happens to be the go-to brand of celebrity chef Ree Drummond, this sauce is rife with the same zesty Chile de árbol and piquín peppers and vibrant spices that fans know and love, but amped up a notch. This craveable condiment is designed to be used on everything from crispy air fryer chicken wings to a kicked-up, spicy bloody mary recipe.

As a heat lover myself, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to sample this sassy sauce. Fortunately, the kind folks at McCormick, the parent company of the Cholula brand, were eager to oblige and sent me a bottle ahead of its widespread distribution. I sniffed, sniffled, and tasted this condiment so you won't have to. Read on to find out if this is the new spicy kick you will want to start using on your scrambled eggs or if you should skip it.

Some recommendations are based on first-hand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer/distributor/etc.

To sample Cholula's new Extra Hot sauce, I decided to taste it both straight up and doused onto a tortilla chip. I wanted to see how it fared as-is, without anything else to adulterate its flavor, but also felt it was only fair to sample it as a topper for something that didn't have too strong a flavor, but could temper some of the heat.

At first sniff, this didn't smell all that different from the classic recipe. It had abundant vinegary notes, but I didn't detect anything out of the ordinary. When I poured the sauce onto a spoon, the scent opened up a bit, presenting more distinct peppery notes that began to tickle my nasal passages.

When I tasted this sauce, the primary flavor element that struck me at the outset was a distinct acidity. This quickly yielded to the intense heat of the Chile de árbol and piquín peppers and the milder, subtly sweet flavors of the garlic, which helped to round out the spiciness. The inherent grassiness of the Chile de árbol peppers is well-balanced with the fruity, yet nutty, undertones of the piquín peppers. Though the heat of this sauce lingered for a bit, it was not overpowering. It had a delightful finish, with slightly smoky notes that were quite appealing.

Though Cholula's Extra Hot sauce is spicier than the classic recipe, it doesn't hold a candle to the world's hottest hot sauces. Chile de árbol peppers are considered to be medium spicy, ranging from 15-30,000 Scoville Heat Units, which is roughly equivalent to those of a serrano pepper. Piquín peppers aren't much spicier, ranging from 30-60,000 Scoville Heat Units, which is similar in heat to a cayenne pepper. For those seeking a spicy thrill that is truly off the charts, this sauce probably won't excite them much, considering how many types of peppers there are that rank much higher on the Scoville scale, like the Carolina reaper, which ranges between 1,500,000 to 2,200,000 Scoville Heat Units.

That said, this is a super flavorful, pleasant sauce that won't desensitize your taste buds — something I appreciate, especially when my goal is to enhance the flavor of my food, not challenge my taste buds, stomach lining, and sanity with how much pain they can tolerate. This sauce would be as ideal for making homemade hot honey as it would for doctoring up leftover pizza or pasta.

While I would certainly recommend this sauce, there are a number of others in the Cholula family that are somewhat more distinctive and complex in flavor that I would opt for first, including the boozy Cholula Reserva Tequila & Lime Hot Sauce and the savory Cholula Chili Garlic Hot Sauce. These not only contribute heat to a dish, they confer a unique flavor that can elevate it.