Pepper X earns world record title as hottest pepper in the world

Brooklyn, N.Y. – Smokin’ Ed Currie’s Pepper X has officially set a world record as the hottest chili in the world, even hotter than the previous record holder, the Carolina Reaper.

Guinness World Records announced the record, following the chili pepper registering an average 2,693,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU) in lab tests at Winthrop University in South Carolina.

Pepper X breaks the record previously held by Smokin’ Ed’s Carolina Reaper, which more recently measured an average of 1,641,183 SHU. The result of 10 years of development in Ed’s greenhouses in Fort Mill, S.C., Pepper X averages more than a million units higher than the Carolina Reaper on the Scoville scale.

As a proprietary pepper, its pods and seeds are tightly guarded and won’t be sold or released, so the only way for the public to enjoy Pepper X is in the form of certain hot sauces.

“They said topping Smokin’ Ed’s Carolina Reaper wouldn’t happen, but if anyone could, it’s Ed. I’m extremely proud to be a part of this history in the making,” said Noah Chaimberg, founder of hot sauce retailer Heatonist.

“This was a team effort,” Currie said. “We knew we had something special, so I only let a few of my closest family and friends know what was really going on.”

Pepper X was announced through a partnership between Smokin’ Ed, Heatonist hot sauces and First We Feast’s hit YouTube series Hot Ones; as the main ingredient in a hot sauce called The Last Dab. A newly released edition of the sauce – Hot Ones The Last Dab Xperience – is made with more than 91 per cent Pepper X.

Pepper X is a U.S.-registered trademark of Katieco, LLC. Products can be found exclusively via retailer Heatonist and Katieco, LLC, through its authorized distributors including Puckerbutt Pepper Company.