I was recently asked to review Uncle Dougie’s bloody mary mixes, and was also provided with their bbq sauces and wing marinade. I was surprised and excited when Uncle Dougie’s in Chicago also provided me with their wing marinade and bbq sauces, because I love to grill. With winter on the horizon, there is no better way to close out the grilling season than inviting a few friends over for a BBQ. Although if you know me, you will also know the cold winter weather won’t keep me from barbecuing.

Asking me to review their wing marinade and BBQ sauces was a very bold move. I am really picky about my BBQ sauces, so they took a huge risk providing me with samples. For several years, I have been grilling and BBQing some of the best barbecue my friends and neighbors have ever tasted. I know my barbecue. I was extremely pleased with their bloody mary mixes, so I was excited to put their sauces to the test and see if they live up to the same quality as their bloody mary mix.

I decided to keep it simple and also use any recommendations Uncle Dougie’s provides. My cooker of choice was my outdoor built-in charcoal open grill. Of course, I picked up some wings for the wing marinade, and also decided to go with chicken legs for the BBQ sauces. The wing marinade bottle said to soak the wings in the marinade for 15-30 minutes, and throw them on the grill and mop them occasionally. I like a really strong spice, so I decided to marinade them for the full half hour. Since the marinade is vinegar based, you really don’t want to push it with the marinading times.

For the chicken legs, I decided to put my own homemade dry rub on them overnight since the BBQ sauce is only added towards the end of the cooking process. I simply rubbed each leg with a little oil, and rubbed my blackened dry rub into the skin. Then I placed the wings in a ziplock bag and placed in the fridge overnight.

Blackened Seasoning Dry Rub Recipe:

• 4 parts paprika
• 2 parts salt
• 2 parts black pepper
• 1 part garlic powder
• 1 part onion powder
• 1/2 part thyme
• 1/2 part oregano
• 1/2 part cayenne pepper

As the coals burned down, the chicken singed beautifully on all sides. I mopped the wings at every flip as the wing marinade bottle suggested. The scent of grilled chicken filled the air as fellow neighbors walked by commenting about the smells.

And now for the taste test. The smokiness of the coals mixed with the cider vinegar in the wing marinade melded perfectly, creating some magnificent no-hassle grilled wings. The carried a light vinegary taste along with a light bite of spice, which created a great eating experience. As stated before, I am extremely picky about my BBQ sauces. After trying Uncle Dougie’s BBQ sauces, I threw my bottle of KC Masterpiece away. This will be my new sauce.

The sweet BBQ sauce has a perfect balance between sweet and bold, which carmelized beautifully over the open flame. I have never tasted a more well-balanced sweet sauce than this. It also had a perfectly balanced consistency, so it wasn’t so thick that it goo’ed up the leg, nor was it too thin to stick to the skin. The spicy sauce was a little thinner and had a light vinegar taste to it. It almost tasted like a mix between the hot sauce and sweet BBQ sauce. I loved it. It’s hard to pick which sauce is better, but these are the two best sweet and spicy sauces I have found from a store or in a restaurant. I tried an experimental leg with a mix of both sauces, and it created the most perfect blend I have ever had. It had the spiciness of the spicy sauce and the sweetness of the sweet sauce – a perfect balance.