Bottom Line: The Blazin’ Knockout Sauce from BWW packs a lot of heat but may be taking things a bit too far as the flavor gets lost in the mix.
Buffalo Wild Wings has long been one of my favorite wing destinations, and they have what I consider to be the best of the superhot sauces among the chains which is their Blazin’ option. The original version of that delivers plenty of heat along with good taste, and is definitely something that fans of spicy food and hot wings should seek out. But they keep tinkering with it and making it hotter, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. They had a Ghost Pepper version of the Blazin’ sauce and a couple of years ago they amped that up with the Carolina Reaper (you can read my review of that here). Now they have come up with the Blazin’ Knockout sauce which is made from nine different chilis, and they may have gone a bit too far with this one.
On the positive side, this sauce still has that much of the taste of the original Blazin’ which is so good. It has the tang you expect from a Buffalo sauce but it also has a depth and richness and peppery kick with a nice sweetness to balance out the flavors. There is some smokiness there as well and I believe that comes from the combination of chilis they use in the sauce (Devil’s Breath, Carolina Reaper, Scorpion, Ghost, Habanero, Red and Green Jalapenos, Chile de Arbol and Cayenne). There is a lot going on in this sauce, but it definitely delivers on the flavor. At least for the first bite or two.
The problem is, and you don’t hear me say this too often, the sauce is just too hot! This one is at the Insane level on my scale if not beyond, and after one wing you are definitely feeling the pain. If you keep eating, your mouth goes numb and you are no longer enjoying the flavors. And while I like hot, I like flavor as well. The perfect combination is when that heat enhances the flavor and delivers a fiery festival in your mouth. But you can still taste what you are eating and you don’t have to go running for the fire extinguisher. This latest “enhancement” to the Blazin’ sauce takes things too far and it is really for extreme heat lovers only.
BWW has a Blazin’ Knockout Challenge, but you better have a very high heat tolerance. You have to eat ten bone-in wings in five minutes with no drinks or other food items (including dipping sauces). For that, you get 1000 reward points (which works out to about ten bucks) and your name on their wall of fame. That’s a lot of pain to go through (front end and back end) for not a lot of reward. And since those are the bone-in wings, you will be getting a lot of that sauce on your mouth and lips which will only enhance the pain that follows. Personally, I will pass on this.
I don’t have a problem with them putting insane sauces like this on the menu because I understand the challenges bring a lot of attention and can be fun (if you’re the one watching). I just wish they would keep the original Blazin’ sauce as well. That one was around the Fiery level on my scale, and while it would certainly set your mouth ablaze, it was still within a tolerable range and did not deliver pure pain. For now, I will generally order a side of their latest Blazin’ sauce and dip my wings into it judiciously. That way I get the flavor and the heat without melting away my taste buds.
The Blazin’ Knockout sauce is BWW’s current hottest offering on the menu, and it will stick around until they decide to tinker with it again (they seem to do that about every two years). I can’t imagine they are going to go much hotter, but who knows? Just please bring back the original Blazin’ as well for those of us who like the heat but also want to be able to enjoy the taste of our wings.