Liquid smoke is where it's at. It's the difference between bbq and spaghetti sauce. Be careful with the dosage though because it's potent.

You can get smoked chilis if you don't mind the heat. One-two Chipotle chilis would smoke that sauce right up for you (go easy though, the chilies in Adobo can be pretty hot). Ancho chilies are mostly dried so you would have to rehydrate and grind them to be useful.

Also, roasted Cumin lends somewhat of a smokey flavor. Finally, I see vinegar and tomato in that mix, add a little bit of yellow mustard to give it more of a BBQ sauce flavor (and color).

Next time you make it, use apple cider vinegar (You'll thank me later). ACV + Mustard + Tomato + Spices = My grandmother's NC BBQ sauce recipe. Where I grew up, the chief crops were tomatoes and apples so those two ingredients have to be pretty much in everything.

Without knowing what flavor profile you're going for, here are a couple of suggestions.

If you'd like a more sour and acidic sauce, you can add something like a small sash or red wine vinegar and let it cook in for a few minutes before tasting again. Repeat until you hit the flavor, or you ruin it. :) The flavors specific to the red wine vinegar (champaign vinegar should work, too) will help cut the sweetness while adding a bit of tang to it. Simple distiller vinegar will just increase the tang, which may or may not accomplish what you want.

You can also try adding more tomato juice, or even a can of good diced tomatoes with their juice, nailing it with a stick blender until it's nice and smooth and then reducing it to the desired thickness. This should keep the flavor profile roughly the same while kicking up the tomato notes.

BBQ varies widely depending on what part of the country it's from. The sauce you made probably tastes perfectly normal to someone somewhere.

http://www.armadillopeppers.com/bbq-sauce.html

George from Civilized Caveman Cooking has a great recipe:

BBQ Sauce

I've made it several times and kind of doctor it up to make it my own. I don't use the pineapple, but I add a little bit of blackstrap molasses, which gives it a kind of smokey sweetness.

Looking at this recipe vs. the ingredients you posted, it looks like maybe yours tasted a little too sweet because of the tomato juice. I've tried the recipe above with fresh tomatoes and canned fire-roasted with chilies (Muir Glen brand is DELICIOUS), and both came out great. (The only thing I would recommend is waiting until your sauce has cooled a little before putting it in the blender or food processor, unless the bowl is glass. Wouldn't want to put burning hot sauce in a plastic container.) Even better if you have a stick/immersion blender and can do it right in the pot.

Dump the sauce, go with a rub.

IMHO, the main purpose of a sauce is to cover up the taste of a poor cut of meat. Oh, you're buying good cuts of meat? Then why cover it up with a sauce?

It has been my experience that rubs tend to bring out and work with the flavor of the meat, not cover it up.

Here are a couple of rub recipes:

Memphis style rib rub:

ngredients:

1/4 cup paprika 2 tablespoons salt 2 tablespoons onion powder 2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper 1 tablespoon cayenne Preparation:

Mix ingredients together. Store in an airtight container. Spread evenly on prepared ribs that have been patted dry and let sit until the rub appears moist.

Best odds rib rub:

Ingredients:

1/3 cup paprika 3 tablespoons dry mustard 3 tablespoons onion powder 3 tablespoons garlic powder 2 tablespoons ground basil 1 tablespoon black pepper 1 tablespoon salt 2 teaspoons red pepper (1 tablespoon if you want it hot) Preparation:

Combine all ingredients. Store in an airtight container. When applying to ribs, coat heavily and massage into the meat. If you want to make a sweet rub add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar (obviously not paleo).

There is a whole world of BBQ out there that doesn't use sauces. Why not try something new?