Awesome *

Hutchins Farm reports that this apple, a sport (apparently) of Empire, has no name. Nature abhors a vacuum, so we will use Hutchins's home-grown appellation.*

This sport is very large and moderately ribbed, with a red blush that is mostly streaky over a bright yellow-green. 

Many small light lenticels decorate the blush, which manages to be quite dark in places, and as the photo shows there are some jagged swaths of what I take to be russet. (Or perhaps it is something else?)

The fruit is firm and the peel has an herbal smell.

Awesome's flesh is very crisp and firm, a job for sharp teeth (but not a workout for the jaw, as the apple crunches up without a struggle). It's fun to bite into a big hard apple like this.

The medium-fine-grained light-yellow flesh is well balanced and generally vinous, without any real standout flavors—a little spice, and perhaps berries. It is more sweet than otherwise, and ought to please many tastes.

No one would confuse one of these with Empire, which seems positively demure by comparison, but there are similarities.

*Hutchins's own note on this variety is, "This given us by Cummins Nursery (NY). Described as large Empire, but this is tart." (I didn't think it was particularly tart.)