Black Bhutlah SLP

Black Bhutlah SLP is a superhot Capsicum chinense line tied to the Bhutlah SLP group, itself described as a Bhut Jolokia × Trinidad Douglah hybrid. The clearest available descriptions treat Black Bhutlah SLP not as an old standalone variety, but as a darker phenotype selected from Red Bhutlah SLP material. One source attributes it to Peter Merle in the Canary Islands, while another says the darker phenotype appeared from Red Bhutlah seeds in Christopher Phillips’ garden and was then named Black Bhutlah SLP. The line is therefore clearly part of the Semillas La Palma / Christopher Phillips Bhutlah SLP stream, though the exact credit trail is somewhat inconsistent.

Descriptions align reasonably well on the plant itself. It is presented as an extremely hot chinense with very dark ripe pods, heavy pimples and grooves, irregular blocky superhot shapes, and strong productivity. One exact-name listing gives plants at over 90 cm tall with pods around 5.0–7.5 cm long, while broader Bhutlah SLP morphology notes describe plants around 120–150 cm tall with green foliage and fruits about 5.0–7.0 cm long and 1.0–2.0 cm wide.

Colour needs careful wording. Despite the name, one source explicitly notes it is not truly black, only much darker at maturity than standard Brown Bhutlah SLP. Another source states that pods can turn mahogany red if left fully ripe, especially under strong sun. Because of that, the safest short colour sequence is green to dark brown-black to mahogany red rather than simply calling it black.

Heat is also not fixed in published sources. Exact-name retail and review pages commonly place it at 1,000,000+ SHU, while older grower discussion quoted PuckerButt material saying there was no exact verified heat level yet and only describing it as brutally hot. The 1,000,000 SHU value used here is therefore a practical trade estimate rather than a formally verified laboratory figure.

A notable part of its identity is instability. Multiple sources describe Black Bhutlah SLP as early-generation material such as F2 or F3 and openly note that pod shape and colour can vary. Broader Bhutlah SLP material is described as having entered circulation before achieving strong stability, and darker off-types such as Black Bhutlah SLP appear to have emerged from that seed pool. Its place is therefore much more in the rare-seed and superhot collector scene than in any traditional regional food culture.