I'd say Claire just about has it nailed! Her batch #2 is really, really close in flavor and identical in aroma. I think it may be missing some coarse-ground black pepper.

Here's the thing about smoking foods: Real barbecue is cooked over a long period of time, at low temperature (around 200*), using hardwood chunks or logs and/or lump charcoal made from hardwood, such as hickory, mesquite, apple, cherry and others.

Liquid smoke flavoring came about because most folks don't have a wood-smoking barbecue pit, or the time to spend 20 hours cooking a brisket. Liquid smoke is condensation collected from the inside of wood-smokers. Since there is already a lot of it in Claire's sauce (as in Woody's), putting it in the smoker may be too much of a good thing. But I think it's worth a go, and will keep you posted on the results.

It may be worth our while to make one of our faux-Woody's recipes minus the liquid smoke, and running it through the smoker, but I don't know when I'll have time for that - several festival weekends coming up.

Cheers,
Michael