He has developed a following — to the tune of more than 65,000 cases of barbecue sauces sold a year in grocery, tourist, liquor and specialty stores throughout the United States, Australia and Canada, according to his figures.

He is part wine snob, part Billy-Bob when describing the flavors of his most successful sauce. “White Lightnin’ starts with an initial sweetness, followed by notes of onion, garlic and worcestershire, and finishes with just a flash of southern fire,” he describes on his Web site, www.BourbonQ.com.

That complex layering of flavors is what keeps the customers coming, he said, but to originally grab their attention he uses eye-popping designs with a dash of irreverence.

On the label of his Pappy’s Moonshine Madness, beneath a warning that it’s “so friggin’ hot you’ll go blind,” he writes, “We’re sure some chile heads will scoff that ‘this ain’t hot.’ That’s fine — keep in mind that these are the same folks that think battery acid is a culinary treat.”
On his Sauce for Sissies, next to a picture of a whining baby, he gets in a jab at his motorcycle-riding brother — “Good for Babies, Brats and Bikers.”

He has no bachelor of science degree in marketing, he said, “Just a great degree in BS.”
This year, Best is trying to expand his culinary horizons to the Northeast, Northwest and Southwest.
In the fall, he began selling a line of sauces with a smoother, less smoky flavor, “more suited to the gourmet palate.” And he is charging a premium for it — $7.99 for a 12.7-ounce bottle online — compared to $5.99 for Pappy’s, which also sells for about $4.29 at Kroger.

Instead of crying babies on the label is a glass of fine bourbon glowing amber in the light. He hopes the line will sell better in the Northeast, an area he believes will increase in its appetite for barbecue in the near future.
He also has created a new line of sauces and spices with a southwestern design and the “Bear Claw” label.
He said consumers in tourist and gift shops will nab up anything with a bear on the label. It’s up to him as head taster to make sure they want to buy it again. The line includes a marinade, a Chipotle barbecue sauce, a grilling sauce, a Mango Chipotle grilling sauce, chili powder, the sweet and spicy “Honey Butt Spice,” Shrimp Spice and Herb spice.

If that’s not enough, he is trying to market his Moonshine Madness sauce under the label “West Texas Passion” to be sold in grocery stores throughout the Lonestar state. All told, he has worked to create 12 new labels in the last year.

But the constantly evolving Best is already looking to the future. Raspberry and other flavors are in the works for the BourbonQ line and he is constantly working to spot trends in foods. Who knows, maybe his next line will be Asian sauces, he said.

He is blown away that his career would take a turn to where he is selling sauces all over the world, he said.
“When you run enough lemonade stands, you finally end up with one you can sell.”