What brand of hot sauce was first produced on Avery Island, Louisiana in 1868?

The hot-sauce brand first produced on Avery Island, Louisiana, in 1868 was Tabasco sauce. Edmund McIlhenny created the sauce and began manufacturing it through the McIlhenny Company, which remains based on Avery Island in Iberia Parish.

The original sauce combines tabasco peppers, vinegar, and salt. Early batches were packaged in small cologne-style bottles, and the modern bottle design still reflects that origin. The peppers were initially grown on Avery Island, but commercial production later expanded to farms in other parts of the world. Avery Island continues to provide seed stock for the pepper supply.

A common mix-up is treating Tabasco as the generic name for Louisiana hot sauce. Tabasco is a specific brand and product line, while Louisiana Hot Sauce and Crystal are separate brands. There is also historical debate about whether Edmund McIlhenny was the first person to make a sauce from tabasco peppers; earlier pepper sauces have been attributed to Maunsel White. Nevertheless, McIlhenny’s 1868 product is the established answer to this brand-history question.