I'm still in the process of narrowing down worthy duplicates I have, but since I haven't tasted all these varieties, I was hoping someone who's tasted these can help me out. 
How close are these in flavor compared to one another?  Which ones would you sacrifice a duplicate of?

• Gino Black
• Sal's (not sure which one)
• Marseilles Black VS
• Salem Dark
• Bari
• Black Greek
• Bryant Dark
• Dark Portuguese

Sal's and MBvs taste very close to being the same, the differences are subtle (berry vs. floral) and not always apparent to me. Gino's taste is usually spicier than the other 2. Black Greek is much different, there is not much of an aftertaste like the other 3. I would keep the Black Greeks if I were you ;)

I am pretty sure most of these cultivar are Mt. Etna types and they are cold hardy

Sals El http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/sals-el-91913-6533994?pid=1279598057#post1279598057

Marsellies Black http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/marsellies-black-vs-9613-6513655?pid=1279431089#post1279431089

Gino's Black  http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/ginos-black-2013-6493473?pid=1279257325#post1279257325

Thanks guys.
Mike, your links have convinced me to keep all of my extras.  I was able to try a few Gino's last year and they were amazing.  Can't get enough of those.

Brent,
I've seen great reports on Black Greek and your response confirms its keep for me.  Glad it's got a different flavor than the rest.

Any feedback on how complex the last five are?

Sals from EL around 2003/4 was good sweet fig great producer which i bought from EL back then when it was not on there list as one of the brothers from BC directed me to them as they would not ship  -only pickup.

Later in that decade he claimed it was same as his hardy chicago, i have hardy chicago from now closed Paradise Nursery and
they are not the same with HC being better on personal palate.
Personally i think somehow his 2 got mixed up or he changed growers.

After many years i discarded Sals as it kept falling down on list of excellent figs in our yard.

Dark Portuguese we also had and if i may so on personal palate its a milder version of our Hardy Chicago .
Dark Port was discarded as well.

Hi Figgyfrank,
I would taste them all --myself-- first before deciding to throw some away.

The taste depends on your location, the particular tree ... and your own taste buds ...
And a little less tasty figs are better than no figs at all - So the better cultivar might not be adapted to your location and might drop its figs !
I have an unknown in ground at 30 km away from my garden, and that location has temps with 5°C less than my garden throughout the whole year.
That small difference is enough to make the figs drop - as for now, almost all dropped, the 2 unknown strains there, and my "unknown from the italian" ... All my actual trees from that last strain are babies of that tree .
2 years ago I took cuttings from the 2 other strains ... I want to know what those two unknown are.

Of course it all depends on the size of your trees.
If they just are cuttings, then I would choose. But if I had been babying them for one or two years, I would wait a bit more, and choose by myself ...

Frank, of all the cold hardy figs the wife and I are testing, we have had the longest experience with, Hardy Chicago, Sals's EL, Marseilles Black VS, Hardy Hartford, and Danny's Delight.

These indeed are duplicates in taste to either each other, or to other figs we have in our collection. They all have strong points and weak points.

But, for us, getting great tasting figs in a cold wet zone 5a/6b, we have to concentrate on cold hardiness first.

It makes no difference how great the fig has been reported to taste, if it gets killed by our cold New England Weather.

At one point in time I was considering pulling out some of them because they appear to be some duplications in taste. But what I found was that each year, they all performed differently.

To my taste buds;

Hardy Chicago and Danny's Delight have the same taste profile. But, to my taste, Danny's Delight is a more spiced up berry tasting Hardy Chicago.

Marseilles Black VS, Sal's EL, Gino's Black, and Hardy Hartford have to me, the same taste profile, figgy and sweet. But, Sal's EL keeps that very sweet taste even when we have a very wet and cool summer.

With our other 24 or so figs, they also have strong points and weak points, and I have learned to appreciate them all in one way or the other.

If I were you and you really need the space, instead of pulling some out I would graft onto the ones you want to get rid of, with the ones you want to keep. But, I would keep at least one cane of the ones you want to get rid of, that way you may notice later on, they have certain merits worth keeping.


Bob @ T. Pine 

Thank you all for the valuable info.  I really appreciate it.  These trees are about 1 year old.  I rooted them last year.  Some will be in 5 gallon SIPs while some will be buried pots.  They're all coming from 1 gallon pots. 
Having said that, I do have 9 month old MBVS, Dark Port, and Bari in the ground, but not sure what will come back to life after this harsh winter passes.  I did not protect them.
So as suggested, I may have to keep them for another year or two and actually taste them before making a decision.  I may have to kick the riding mower out of the garage next winter in order to fit the larger pots that will occupy the space.  ;)

Frank good luck with the ones you have and hopefully you will be able to taste some
this upcoming season and find what suits your palate.

Yes, this is an interesting thread for me too because I am also trialing all of the Mt. Etna types mentioned (with the exception of Gino's).  Thanks to everyone for their feedback. I like the idea of a Mt. Etna tree with multiple varieties grafted on.

What makes it a big decision is that they're all tasty figs.  But I must take storage space into consideration, as I have lots of other varieties I want to grow too.

Frank, describe "tasty".  I have no idea what people say when they describe a fig as "tasty".  My meatloaf is tasty.  But my figs don't taste like meatloaf.

Dennis, I sometimes use the term tasty. It means- I can't give you an exact flavor but is very agreeable to my palate.  "Tasty" is just faster and easier to say. Some people like to say "sweet", I feel the same way about that descriptor, as sugar is sweet and nothing else; if figs were just sweet I wouldn't bother because I can have sugar anytime. But I get what they are saying, they like them.

Frank,
The "Mt Etna" type figs have similar taste profiles, but they vary in sweetness and complex flavors (savory flavor) when very ripe. These complex flavors are very evident in other cultivars like Violette de Bordeaux, where the pulp, skin and flesh all develop seperate flavors when very ripe. BTW, I would also include Papa John as a Mt Etna type.

Another consideration other than taste is ripening times, you can select cultivars with the same flavor profile to have ripe figs for an extended period over the entire season. BryantDark produces an early abundant breba and early main crop, Hardy Chicago, Gino and Sals EL (Gene) produces a large mid season main crop and Papa John produces an abundant late season main crop.

In my climate I am growing sals g and mvsb side by side. Mvsb is good but here sals has it beat hands down. Now keep in mind I have only had fruit from 1st year trees. But as a first year tree sals was the best even beating my older mature trees like hardy chicago, celeste, and adreatic. Might just be my cool climate. Or that the other trees need to get older. But as a first year tree and last summers less than good weather sals was an explosion of flavor.

Just my 2 cents here.

Thanks Pete.  That helps a lot!

Dave.  I'll keep this in mind too, thanks!

Frank is see a Bari fig on your list.  I am assuming it originated in Bari Italy.  My mothers side of the family originally came from Bari and she would get a kick out of a fig tree from there.  I looked on ebay and couldn't find any Bari fig cuttings.  Where did you get yours?