MAIA test 16

Today's apple is (a) lopsided and (b) huge, with effectively no ribbing (meaning, sure, you can find some if you look closely). 

It has a weak orange-red blush streakily spanning about a third of the peel, which is a very yellow shade of green.

Against this background, the otherwise light brown lenticel dots do not stand out unless filled with greyish matter that might be a kind of russet. 16 has a thick stem, an open calyx, and a satiny finish.

Biting in to its medium-grained yellow flesh unleashes a wave of cherry candy mixed with anise. The effect suggests a cherry cough drop.  

The apple has a solid but unremarkable crunch and is very much on the sweet side. 

It is not impossible that there are other flavors hidden under these strong tastes and sugar (vanilla, perhaps?) but I cannot get at them.

As a novelty, 16 is fun and interesting, a demonstration of the variation of which this fruit is capable. As a snack it is less successful, but would earn a place on a tasting board.

It is a MAIA apple, or at any rate auditioning to be one.

16 may have baking qualities—these tastes might work well with a pie crust around them—and value as breeding stock. 

Barring that, however, I should be surprised were this one to go forward.