Bhutlah
Also known as Red Bhutlah · Bhutlah Red · Bhutlah OG
The Bhutlah is an extreme superhot Capsicum chinense hybrid created in Wisconsin, USA, by crossing the Bhut Jolokia (ghost pepper) with the 7 Pot Douglah. It typically measures 1.5–2 million SHU and is prized for its fruity, earthy, smoky flavor under intense, fast-onset heat.
Growing
~110 days to maturity
Fruit size
5–8 cm
Flavor & Use
Sweet and fruity with floral, earthy, and smoky notes; the intense heat arrives quickly.
Culinary
About
Bhutlah is a Capsicum chinense hybrid of Bhut Jolokia × 7 Pot Douglah. Pods are elongated to teardrop-shaped, 5–8 cm long, with heavily wrinkled/bumpy skin that ripens from green to red or deep chocolate brown. Plants are vigorous and tall (often 90–150 cm), productive under warm conditions. Flavor starts sweet, fruity, floral and earthy with smoky notes before rapid, intense heat. Used almost exclusively for extreme hot sauces, powders, and sparing additions to cooked dishes. Variants include the original red and more widely known chocolate forms.
Backstory
Developed in the early 2010s by Wisconsin grower Chad Soleski as an unintentional cross of Bhut Jolokia and 7 Pot Douglah. The name “Bhutlah” was coined by his friend Steve McLaurin. The original pods were red. The labels “Red Bhutlah”, “Bhutlah Red”, and “Bhutlah OG” were applied later simply to distinguish the original red form from the subsequent chocolate-brown and other color selections of the same hybrid. The strain remains semi-stable with phenotypic variation across red and brown types.
Appearance
Growing
Heritage
Bhutlah is a stabilized line from Ghost Pepper and 7 Pot Douglah.
Chad Soleski · 2013
Parents
Soleski’s 2011 seed-train post and McLaurin’s 2013 naming post both call the original red a Bhut Jolokia × 7 Pot Douglah hybrid. Refining Fire sells Bhutlah Red OG as that Soleski line; third-parent talk is about chocolate SM, not this cultivar.