Editing Tabasco sauce (section)

==Production==
[[File:BarrellwarehouseSMALL.JPG|thumb|Tabasco pepper mash aging in barrels on Avery Island, Louisiana.]]
Originally, all peppers used in Tabasco sauce were grown on Avery Island. Over time, growers were selected throughout Louisiana to accommodate demand and during the 1960s, the company established farms in various Latin American countries. {{As of|2013}} peppers grown on the Island are used to produce seed stock, which is then shipped to foreign growers.<ref name="belson">{{Cite news |last=Belson |first=Ken |date=February 3, 2013 |title=Tabasco's Ties to Football Burn Deep |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/sports/football/tabasco-a-super-bowl-staple-adds-a-spicy-twist.html |access-date=July 24, 2019}}</ref> More predictable weather and readily available farmland in these locales allow a constant year-round supply. This ensures the availability of peppers should severe weather or other problems occur at a particular growing location. Following company tradition, peppers are picked by hand. To ensure ripeness, pickers compare peppers to a little red stick (''le petit bâton rouge''); peppers that match the color of the stick are then introduced into the sauce production process. Peppers are ground into a mash on the day of harvest and placed along with salt in [[Quercus alba|white oak]] barrels previously used for [[whiskey]] of various distilleries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Our Barrels |url=https://www.tabasco.com/blog/about-our-barrels/ |access-date=December 31, 2021 |website=Tabasco Brand |language=en}}</ref> To prepare the barrel, the inside of the barrel is de-charred (top layer of wood is removed), torched, and cleaned, to minimize the presence of any residual whiskey. The barrels are then used in warehouses on Avery Island for aging the mash. After aging for up to three years, the mash is strained to remove skins and seeds. The resulting liquid is then mixed with [[Vinegar#Spirits|distilled vinegar]], stirred occasionally for a month, and then bottled as a finished sauce.<ref name="Shevory 2007 B1–B4">{{harvnb|Shevory|2007|pp=B1–B4}}</ref> Tabasco has released a Tabasco reserve edition with peppers aged for up to eight years, mixed with [[wine vinegar]].<ref name="thenibble">{{Cite web |title=Product: Tabasco Reserve Pepper Sauce (Grab It While You Can) |url=https://www.thenibble.com/blog/2011/10/18/product-tabasco-reserve-pepper-sauce-grab-it-while-you-can/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501004410/https://www.thenibble.com/blog/2011/10/18/product-tabasco-reserve-pepper-sauce-grab-it-while-you-can/ |archive-date=May 1, 2018 |access-date=October 11, 2011 |website=thenibble.com}}</ref> Tabasco Diamond Reserve Edition was a limited bottling released in 2018 to commemorate the brand's 150th anniversary. This sauce consists of peppers that have been aged for up to fifteen years, then mixed with sparkling white wine vinegar.<ref name="wyatt">{{Cite news |last=Wyatt |first=Megan |date=April 23, 2018 |title=This gourmet Tabasco sauce will set tongues and wallets on fire |work=[[USA Today]] |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2018/04/23/champagne-inspired-hot-sauce-tabasco-150th-anniversary/543841002/}}</ref> For many years the salt used in Tabasco production came from the Avery Island [[salt dome]], the largest such structure along the Louisiana coast.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Avery Island |url=https://64parishes.org/entry/avery-island |access-date=December 28, 2019 |website=64 Parishes |language=en}}</ref>