The official hottest pepper in the world is Pepper X, which measures an average of 2.69 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU), with some peaks topping 3 million SHU.Pepper X is grown by Ed Currie of PuckerButt Pepper Company (the same breeder who created the Carolina Reaper). It officially dethroned the Carolina Reaper in 2023 as certified by Guinness World Records.For a close-up look at how this record-breaking pepper compares to the previous title-holder, the Carolina Reaper: