Episode Details

Tabasco's first bottles were repurposed cologne bottles, and the recipe's origin may trace to someone other than the man credited with it. This episode tells the multigenerational story of the family that has run the brand since 1868.

We look at former banker Edmund McIlhenny, evidence pointing to New Orleans planter Maunsel White, and the Avery Island salt dome operation. We cover the little red stick used at harvest, three-year aging in whiskey barrels, a Rough Rider and an Arctic explorer as leaders, General Walter McIlhenny's military marketing and trademark fights, the Hurricane Rita levee, and the sauce's trips to space.

• The 1850 letter and court testimony linking the sauce to Maunsel White
• Why a slow three-year aging process became a competitive moat
• How the Charlie Ration Cookbook built loyalty among soldiers
• The legal battle to control the word Tabasco, including a clash with an Auburn professor
• How the family protected Avery Island with a 17-foot levee in 2005