HIGH POINT, N.C. — The license plate on his car says it all. HOTSAUC. Twenty-six years ago, Vic Clinco bought a few bottles of hot sauce not knowing that nearly three decades later, his collection would grow to almost 11,000 bottles and unofficially the world's largest collection.
"It has turned into an obsession," said Clinco. "What started as a small collection has grown into me being at the center of a culture that surrounds hot sauces."
Clinco knows everyone in the hot sauce culture. From the people who participate in hot sauce challenges to the manufacturers themselves. He has so much street cred that manufacturers actually send him their latest issues these days.
"My job relocated me from Arizona to here in High Point, North Carolina and my biggest worry was would my bottles survive the move," laughed Clinco. "But I didn't lose one. It was a miracle."
So, does he buy two bottles for every hot sauce? One to collect and one to try? Clinco says he does this for some bottles but not all.
Clinco admits that his basement looks like a museum but that's OK with him. He wants to hold tastings and get more people in to enjoy his incredible collection.
"I want it to be shared with anyone that has the love of the heat as I do," said Clinco. "My end goal is to have so many bottles that there is no wall left in sight."
Clinco hopes to have the Guinness World Record for his collection in the next few years. The folks at Guinness have already been in touch with him about it. To make the title official, he'll have to document every single bottle he's got.
