Jerseymac (Jersey Mac)

The Jerseymacs have been very good this summer, and I am both obliged and pleased to reconsider my 2008 take:

There is a moment when you take a bite that you can convince yourself it is going to taste like a McIntosh.... ¶ 

This year's is the same round, oblate, modestly ribbed apple, its red blush, streaky in spots, over spring green and decorated with light lenticels and a light bloom.

Jersey Macoun?

But also this year I'm eating JMacs with a first-rate crunch, and a mix of vinous and floral flavors with a strong strawberry accent.

They are really well-balanced, a refreshing contrast to the Honeycrisp cluster in supermarkets.

These tastes recall—dare I say it?—Macoun as much as McIntosh.

The fine-grained flesh is a faint yellow, and I can report that Jerseymac is not a keeper: it has lost some of its crackle (though still good) in just two days. (I bought mine fresh on September 2, so these are in the rear-view mirror this year.)

I also think this was a particularly good year for Jerseymac, so your experience may vary.

These were really a pleasant surprise.

Second bite

My 2008 sample was likely too early, and it was only the second apple I'd tried to describe (after Vista Bella, my first) in what was supposed to be only a one-year experiment.

I am always pleased to resample, especially when that teaches me something new. Accordingly, I am not deleting the 2008 story, but will make this my review post, starting today.

Pedigree

Jerseymac, introduced in 1971 by the fruit-breeding program at Rutgers, is an NJ24 x Julyred cross. NJ24 was an experimental variety of the program; Julyred's pedigree is described by Hough and Bailey (1972).

Note the authors' reference to "Jerseymac," evidently the original name, though "Jersey Mac" is common today.

Cite: Hough, L. F., and Catherine Bailey. "Jerseymac—Earlier and Prettier than McIntosh" Fruit Varieties and Horticultural Digest 26:1 (Jan 1972).

Related: 2008.