Democratic National 
Convention chooses 
official barbecue sauce

We’ve heard of official wireless carriers or hotel chains, but the host committee for the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Charlotte, N.C., is slathering on a different kind of “official” product for its September gathering: barbecue sauce.

 The Charlotte in 2012 Convention Host Committee announced this week that a team of six judges helped select the best barbecue sauces from among 30 entries to become the big event’s official dressing for grill-cooked food.

Barbecue sauce is apparently pretty serious business to the folks in Charlotte — the judges evaluated each sauce in four different areas: aroma, taste, aftertaste and overall impression.

Winners in three different categories were chosen for the best mustard-, vinegar- and tomato-based sauces.

The victor in the mustard-based group, Dan Huntley (who’s also known as “Dan the Pig Man”), said in a statement from the host committee, “It’s a high honor in barbecuedom to have my sauce chosen by the DNC. In the Carolinas, the epicenter of global barbecue culture, a good sauce is a holy vestment.”

 The set of three official DNC barbecue sauces is being sold online for $25.

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