BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: Grumpy's Private Reserve Bold XX

When it comes to barbecue sauce, the label is often under-appreciated. At its most basic, it's informative - name, barcode, contact info, ingredients, nutritional info. At it's worst...well, let's just say that there are a lot of poor design choices floating around out there. But at its best, a barbecue sauce label is an extension of the sauce itself, conveying to the retail browser exactly what they can expect from the contents within.

The label on Grumpy's Bold XX sauce nails it. Like the Dr. Katz-esque cartoon pig mugging front and center, this sauce is funky and playful. It starts out sweet, with plenty of tomato flavor and notes of mustard and citrus and other mysterious things hovering just below the threshold of apparency. Then comes the heat - definitely a step up from mild, but not quite hot. There is a slight smokiness present - it wouldn't be a "KC-style sauce" without it, right? Overall, a fun, slightly spicy sauce with lots of personality.

Grade: B+

WIN a FREE BOTTLE of the BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK!

We have a bottle of Grumpy's Private Reserve Bold XX Sauce to giveaway to one of our readers. All you have to do is visit the website and post a comment here. One winner will be randomly selected on the following Tuesday night and sent a free bottle of sauce. Just leave an email address so that we can contact the winner.