MikeUSMC said:
Anybody can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Steve had a video out there of him saying that it was a three way cross, with some type of Scorpion along the way too
Yes. I was talking about the name Bhutlah not the color. I obsess over things like this, so let me ramble and you will see what i mean when I say it is confusing. Much respect to all these developers. I've only scratched the surface of cross pollinating and usually get horrible results. I am a hack in that department and have the highest opinion of folk who have much better results.
OK, here goes:
When that FBI guy did his first pod review of the Chocolate Bhutlah SM, the grower (Steve / StandandFire) became sort of a folk hero of mine. The FBI guy seemed absolutely sure it was hotter than the Carolina Reaper. The thought that a working stiff might dethrone a champion from someone as large and established as Puckerbutt was almost romantic. So read everything I could. This is how I understand things.
A man named Chad Soleski.created a red pepper by crossing bhut and douglah. Mr. Soleski and Steven Mclaurin (StandandFire) were friends at the time. I think it was Mr. Mclaurin who nick named the red pepper the Bhutlah by combining the words bhut and douglah. Then Mr. Mclaurin crossed the Red Bhutlah with a Red Butch T Sccorpion and got a chocolate. However, Mr. Soleski later got a Chocolate Bhutlah with no additional crosses. So right there is two different lineages by the same name. Now I suppose it is possible Mr. Mclaurin attempted to cross Red Bhutlah with Butch T and it did not take. That would explain how Mr. Soleski was able to get a chocolate without an additional cross. I have no clue, but visually the Chocolate Bhutlah SM and Chocolate Bhutlah CS look about the same. According to Jim Duffy they have about the same heat and taste. Some folk have said SM is larger, but according to Puckerbutt the SM does produce some smaller pods. They are still stabilizing for pod size as of last year when they offered fresh pods.
So at that point we have Chocolate Bhutlah SM and Chocolate Bhutlah CS. Both names being really cool. Sure you know the other use of the term SM. The initials CS are used for a military grade tear gas.
Making it even more confusing, a European grower was selling seed for his Chocolate Bhutlah and said it was a two pepper cross. I think after talking to Mr. Mclaurin changed the name to Brown Bhutlah but the thing was already being regrown by folk who continued to use the name Chocolate Bhutlah. I call this one the Chocolate Bhutlah UK to keep it right in my head.
Then there was PepperLover's contribution. As I understand it, she created the Chocolate Bhutlah PL unintentionally. I hope I get this right. She is a member here, so maybe she can jump in on this one cause it is really odd. From what I have read, she created a Bhut x Doublah and called it the Brown Bhutlah. She did not release the seeds herself. Instead, she sent pods to folk for opinions. Then seemingly out of no where seed folk were offering Chocolate Bhutlah PL seeds even though Pepper Lover had not released the seeds and called her pepper brown rather than chocolate.
Later, Pepper Lover would offer Chocolate Bhutlah seeds but without the PL at the end. I am unclear if this is what she originally called Brown Bhutlah or maybe she sourced the seed stock.
So now we are up to: Chocolate Bhutlah SM, Chocolate Bhutlah CS, Chocolate Bhutlah PL, Chocolate Bhutlah UK, and the Chocolate Bhutlah being sold by Pepper Lover without the PL at the end.
Not done yet. Another member of THP, I think Crazy Hot Seeds, had a Chocolate Bhutlah and said it was his own cross. No initials behind the name of the pepper, but lets call it CH for Crazy Hot..
So off the top of my head, I can identify 6 different strains called Chocolate Bhutlah. Five of these are a two pepper cross.
Huge Disclaimer - I understand a few people are really hot about this topic. I am hoping not to offend any of them. I am just pointing to the things that folk and seed sellers have claimed. If I have anything in the story wrong, please do reply and correct me. Like I said, it is very confusing.
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