Numbered hot sauce bottles

[snopes]

Comment: On the bottom of every bottle of tabasco sauce is a number that
ranges from 1-40. The lower the number, the hotter the sauce.

I'v heard this a couple of times from different sources. Is this true?

FromTobasco sauces official website

"What do the numbers on the bottom of the bottle represent?"

"The numbers stamped on the bottom of the bottle refer to the mold number from which that particular glass bottle was made."


So my guess is the numbers do not mean anything to the hotness in other brands either.

[Casey]

Highly doubtful.

I'm a bit of a hot sauce fan. A quick run through my kitchen revealed the following sauces, with Scoville ratings from McIlhenny in parentheses:

Original Red, 2 ounce, 5 ounce and 12 ounce (2500-5000)
Habanero, 2 ounce (7000 plus, listed on the Scott Roberts list as max 8000)
Chipotle, 5 ounce (1500-2500)
Buffalo Style, 5 ounce (300-900)

So, assuming the commenter was right and either 1 or 40 was the benchmark for hottest, the habanero blend should be at one extreme, and the Buffalo Style parked at the other.

My bottle of Buffalo Style is marked 03. Good start, since Sweet and Spicy Tabasco runs 100-600 Scoville units, there should be a bit of room for those.

Next mildest is the chipotle. Mine's marked 24. The habanero is marked 34. So far, so good...

The problem is with the three Reds. The 2oz is labeled 24, the 5oz 21 and the 12oz 16.

Our numbers overlap. According to the chart, the chipotle and Red do not overlap in heat, though they touch- the hottest chipotle and the lowest Red are 2500. I could buy using this theory them sharing 24, but the 21 and 16 are the clincher. In no way can Red be milder than chipotle- at worst, equal.

There are a number of things I can think of that could explain the numbering. Lot numbers is simplest, or a marker for starting of the aging process for a given oak barrel of mash. However, it's not a marker of heat. Can't be.

[videoguy]

Not true.

What do the numbers on the bottom of the bottle represent?

The numbers stamped on the bottom of the bottle refer to the mold number from which that particular glass bottle was made.

http://www.tabasco.com/info_booth/fa...old_number.cfm