Ison is probably the best of the older self fertile varieties for fresh eating, but for food quality it’s been surpassed by newer self fertile varieties such as Lane and Hall. It was really bred to have more of the flavor profile of wild muscadines and is probably one of the better ones for jam and wine. My two Ison vines have been my most productive muscadines so far. But their flavor is more tart and has a stronger muscadine aftertaste than the newer varieties. The skin is moderately leathery. It’s not as leathery as Nesbit but a lot more leathery than Black Beauty or Supreme.
In theory Lane is supposed to be the earliest black muscadine now. Ison is supposed to be about two weeks behind it followed by Supreme, Darlene and Pam followed by Black Beauty and Big Red followed by Florida Fry followed by Late Fry. But this past season Supreme ripened late and the berries were bland probably because I let it over produce. In addition, Late Fry ripened early with Ison which it wasn’t supposed to do but did anyway. So there you go. Muscadines are going to do what they are going to do, and sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to it. Its much the same with blueberries. The late ones are sometimes early, and the early ones are sometimes late. God bless.
Marcus