If you haven't been on the Tabasco factory tour, the have a nicely done self-guided tour. Simple, but interesting and lengthy process.

Never been to the factory, but use their products all the time. Just tried their BBQ sauce yesterday on some pork ribs & it's great.

Went a few years ago on our drive back from NO. Really cool place, I would encourage anyone to go. It was really cool to see all the history of Avery Island as well as the process behind all the sauce. If you go, definitely make to drive through the Garden before you leave.

If you're a fan of Tabasco sauce, you really need to try their Tabasco Family Reserve. It is my favorite sauce now. I found it there and the lady told me you could only purchase it there at the factory, and it cannot be found in any store.

Turns out, you can order it from Amazon.

The difference between the original Tabasco and the Family Reserve: the Original is made from their fermented pepper mash (aged 3 years in oak barrels), salt, and vinegar. The Family Reserve is the same, but they use white wine vinegar and the mash is aged for 8 years I believe.

Great video. Glad y'all enjoyed. When I was little, my great grandmother lived on the island. We visited often, as my dad was very close to her. When she passed, my grandmother built a house there and I would go and spend summers there. I went to the fields down below her house to help pick peppers. My hands would burn for days after. Our tours of the factory were a bit different, as we'd just run around the factory like wild animals.

Jungle Gardens is beautiful, but the rest of the island is truly amazing. Seeing the wildlife, exploring every corner, varmint hunting, swimming in the blue hole, and fishing in the ponds was a lot of fun. We actually used to feed some of the biggest deer I've ever seen right from my great grandmothers porch. They would eat corn right out of your hand. Pretty cool. And the gators. My lord, they're huge.

They have definitely lasted, and I am so glad to be able to begin sharing them with my son. Every time we go he is mesmerized by the sights.

One other thing I'll share about my childhood there. I must've been 4-5 years old and at the entrance to the salt mine there was another small pond. There was a massive alligator nicknamed Big George that would hang out there on the edge of the road. Whenever he saw people he would just open his mouth and expect/hope for someone to toss him something to eat. George was somewhere in the neighborhood of 14'. Several times he was relocated to the swamp but came back each time. The island game warden finally dispatched him because it was just too dangerous to keep him around.

Ok, one other. When I was a teenager I used to ride around with the game wardens in an airboat and go raid alligator nests. We would take the eggs and send them to a hatchery to be born. Not exactly sure where they went from there, but it was an interesting experience. Momma gators are fiercely protective of nests and it was difficult for a warden to keep them at bay while we took the eggs. Never any close calls that I saw, fortunately.

But if any of you guys watch the show on discovery, do note that catching gators is nothing like that in real life. The fighting and thrashing doesn't happen unless you piss them off. Typically it just takes a small tug on the line and they float to the surface. Then boom. No drama.