Monday, November 22, 2021

Scott's Winter (Scott) **

A tapered, oblate red apple in the sun

This medium-sized, slightly tapered apple has a rich (but nonetheless striped) red blush that covers most of an underlying yellow.

Tiny light lenticels widely spaced, ribbing, and a bit of natural gloss, round out the classic look. Mine bears a sweet cidery aroma.

Scott's Winter is crisp, coarse-grained, and juicy. That makes for a good breaking crunch. The flesh is off-white.

Scott's boasts some subtle floral and spicy notes, two flavors that go especially well together, and is nicely balanced. There is another quality that hovers somewhere around "vinous" and "lychee."

two starsThough also rated as a cooking apple, especially if picked early, Scott's is refreshing and satisfying eaten out of hand. 

Compared to McIntosh, it is sweeter and juicier—and also, later. (So late that a New England farmer might indeed be tempted to pick early, ahead of a killing frost.)

Scott's of Scott Farm

The orchard that grew this apple is Scott Farm, in southern Vermont.

But the apple originated at a different Scott Farm, in northern Vermont, around the time of the American Civil War.

Pomiferous says this variety is also called Scott, Red Winter Scott, and Wilcox's Winter, among other things. 

This account and that of New England Apples say Scott's is winter hardy and a good keeper. 

They further characterize Scott's flesh as yellow. In mid November, shortly after harvest, I find the flesh is nearly white—and its eating qualites good.

The venerable Apples of New York provides more information, including a color plate, and is generally dismissive of this variety. A chacon.

Not that it matters much but


3 comments:

  1. Is that "A chacon" as in "À Chacun Son Goût" (to each his own)?

    This sounds like an interesting apple. Maybe it would do well in the south with its apparent need for a long season.

    It seems like lychee shows up regularly in tire flavor profiles, Adam. I wonder if somebody in Asia has a blog about lychee and sometimes describes the flavor profile as apple.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oui.

      Lychee is a kind of placeholder for a particular quality; I sometimes fret that it is not the mot le plus juste.

      Delete
    2. I think I need to pick up some lychee to see if I can discern that particular quality.

      Delete

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