We received a nice surprise in the mail recently; a bottle of Benito’s Chipotle Infused Vermont Maple Syrup.

When we first unwrapped the bottle, we thought, “Hmm, we’re not really crazy about heat with our sweet, but we love maple syrup”, so we decided to give it a try. The first taste was a warm, smokey sweetness, with a nice heat that lingered for just a moment.

The first words out of my mouth were “I see pancakes and sausage in my future!”

This morning, we cooked up sausage patties (we used a mild version so we wouldn’t affect the heat level of the syrup) and pancakes. With just a light drizzle on the pancakes, we were brought back to sitting by the campfire eating pancakes and sausage cooked over the flames. Smokey, sweet, with a nice mellow heat filling my mouth, I wound up dunking the pancakes into a bowl of the syrup. It was so good, I had to sit right down and write this review.

As you can see from the photos, this is a thin syrup, with a lovely amber color. According to the label, Ol’ Benito smoked the peppers himself:

“The pure maple syrup in this product was harvested by old-school Vermont sugarmakers in Jeffersonville, VT. It has been combined with the essence of organic smoked jalapenos grown with love at Foote Brook Farm in Johnson, VT. I smoked the jalapenos myself with a mixture of half hickory, half mesquite wood. It has a unique hearty smokiness, with a subtle heat. it goes well with any kind of bbq, chicken, pork or beef, sweet potatoes, vanilla ice cream, and breakfast sandwiches.”

Final impression:

WINNER! Perfect blend of sweet, smoke and heat.

Ingredients:

VT Maple Syrup, organic chipotle peppers.

You can find this and Benito’s other sauces over at BenitosHotSauce.com
And check out his 1st Place Scovie 2011 award winning Vermont Maple Chipotle Dry Rub