The Carolina Reaper, originally named the HP22B, is a cultivar of chili pepper of the Capsicum chinense species. Bred in the Rock Hill, South Carolina greenhouse by Ed "Smokin'" Currie, who runs the PuckerButt Pepper Company in Fort Mill, South Carolina, it has been rated as the world's hottest chili pepper by Guinness World Records since August 7, 2013. The original crossbreed was between a ghost pepper (a former world record holder) and a red habanero. The official Guinness World Record heat level is 1,569,300 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), according to tests conducted by Winthrop University in South Carolina; however, some claim it is 2,200,000 SHU.