Earther recently ran a great story about the struggle of the McIlhenny company that produces Tabasco on Louisiana’s Avery Island. It particularly focused on the environmental efforts of Harold “Took” Osborn, great-grandson of the original McIlhenny, to preserve the island and the company. Osborn said, “We fight hard. We’ve been here 150 years. And I believe that someone will be here to celebrate the 300th anniversary.”
Which may help to explain why the company is taking special care to commemorate its 150th anniversary this year. Tabasco has released a limited edition of its Diamond Reserve Sauce, “made from a selection of the finest tabasco peppers on Avery Island, chosen for their superior color, texture and robustness. These peppers are mashed with a small amount of salt, then aged—some for up to 15 years—and blended with sparkling white wine vinegar.” Typical Tabasco features peppers only aged for three years and regular vinegar. Due to the exclusivity of this special product, this bottle costs $35 dollars, or about $6 per ounce.
The special sauce is bottled with gold foil, champagne-like, and packed in a present-like box. We’re certainly grateful to Tabasco for 150 years of making our scrambled eggs and Bloody Marys better, but a $35 bottle of Tabasco? We’d probably be afraid to use it, so it would end up as one of those odd curios on a bookshelf, never opened.
[Note: Earther, like The Takeout, is owned by Univision Communications.]