i finally got some late season sweet 16’s last fall and i have to say wow! im not a sweet apple person but that was one interesting apple. couldnt stop eating them. earlier in the season i tried it from the same orchard. it was bland and tasteless. 3 weeks later was the ticket!
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love a little ground fennel in my spaghetti and pizza sauces. 
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I’ve tasted it in Sweet Sixteen but not always. The cherry-anise flavor is a nice combo (in my opinion). Frostbite sometimes will have a hint of anise but I think it gets lost in the malty qualities and other flavors easily.
I have Milo Gibson but it’ll be a few years before it fruits. I did choose it with the hopes that it’ll develop the anise flavor consistently in my yard.
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I didn’t realize so many people had Frostbite!
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Sounds like Sweet 16 is an apple that people that have tried it either love it or hate it. I have not had the opportunity to taste one yet.
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I’ll have to keep Freyburg in mind for the future. Seems like one I might enjoy. Interesting that it’s a Cox’s Orange Pippin and Golden Delicious cross – I’d never guess them to pass on an anise flavour.
@MikeC I’m surprised to learn folks are split on Sweet 16. I have a friend who enjoys Sweet 16 but spat Frostbite out immediately and couldn’t be convinced to try it again.
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Ellison’s Orange apples don’t ripen all at once but a few at a time. The trick is to beat the codling moths and the squirrels. Pick them early. Then they taste more like oranges, and they are high in vitamin C to hear tell. Past peak, left on the tree or from storage, their texture and flavor deteriorate rapidly and the medicinal qualities predominate.
Same may be said for Sweet 16, but it’s later and a better keeper. However, I think in the case of Sweet 16 the hard-candy flavors are most prominent slightly before peak ripeness.
What can be said of Milo Gibson? On M26 mine aspires to be a full-sized tree and prefers to grow wood rather than fruit. I get a half bushel of apples per season, but their flavor is not as complex as Sweet 16 or Ellison’s Orange. I grind them for cider and look forward to the tree eventually producing a lot of fruit biomass. I don’t thin it heavily.
Ultimately flavor is not just about variety, weather, ripeness, and storage, but terrior, as well. Two orchards in the same county may produce crops of the same variety with vastly different taste.
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@CRhode it’s disappointing to hear your experience with Milo Gibson. Fedco described it as intensely flavored. Is it just a straight sugar bomb without the anise flavour?
Milo Gibson is a good apple, and I’m keeping it. As with most cider apples, its texture is a bit tough. I wouldn’t describe it as overly sweet. I have other apples that ripen at the same time that are better IMHO for eating out of hand and for cooking. Sweet 16 is one of those.
I’m having trouble with the Sweet 16 tree though. There are three trees (Sweet 16, Wolf River, and Golden Russet, all on B9) along that side of the yard that have not put on a lot of new growth in the last couple of years. Golden Russet died, and I took it out. I’d hate to lose Sweet 16 and Wolf River. I’ve eMailed the County Extension Agent, and they blame the Polar Vortex in whatever year that occurred. I’d just like to see some rebound from winter kill if that’s what it was. I’m concerned that it may be herbicide in mulch applied years ago, herbicide applied recently by the neighbors, or perhaps black walnut growth inhibitors at work along that edge of my property.
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Sounds like long-lasting herbicides or juglone might be your problem.
Not temperatures.
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My Sweet Sixteen and Golden Russet trees came through a number of polar vortexes just fine. They are on b118 and antonovka however.
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i was gonna say, isnt sweet 16 z3 hardy? i thought it was.
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Yep…unless grafted to a bad choice for rootstock.
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B9 is supposed to be hardy.
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I’d expect b9 to do just fine in 5b
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I have personally found lots of anise in Freyburg and Mutsu. Not always, but plenty of times. Dr. Matthews and Fennouillet Gris never had any.
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Thanks… I have Frostbite too…it’s unusual…I love it .like malt…or a bit like drinking maple sap.
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Malt syrup and maple sap…bring it on.
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…but basil which is quite common in Italian foods can sometimes be anise like…
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I bought some nice apples called Sissi Red last summer, the first few tasted of anise but the last few didn’t so may disappear in storage. Some nice complex aromas there.
Was also just reading about french apple Azeroli Anise which is said to have a strong anise flavour.
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