So I need some clarification. Last year I got a Malta Black from a local source here in WA. He got it from Herman originally.

My Malta Black. Its the tiny one on the left.

   


Malta Black from a European Forum. This thing is huge!

 

The 2nd photo is clearly not the same fig. Perhaps somewhere down the road some folks gave 2 different figs the same name because they came out of the same area?

Does anyone have experience with the larger Malta Black?

I just collected the one that originates from Herman2 because it seemed like the one I already have is indistinguishable from a Mt. Etna type.  I'm looking forward to making the comparison.  I am pretty sure the Malta Black in the U.S. originated from the Belleclare nursery, or at least they are the ones that popularized it.

I read that malta black is a parent to celeste. Dont remember for sure. I like the big malta that ben showed us . If you have to wait for a fig to ripen it might as well be big . ;)
Ben thats a sad little malta you got there. Lol

My Malta Black Came from George Michaleff,in North Jersey,and he bought the tree from Belleclare Nursery in NY.
To Bin Bin:Your pix show a fruit that is ,the right color,but not the right size and shape.
I assume you got a very young tree and that fruit is ,the first fruit,or the tree is very small growing in a greenhouse.
My Malta Black fruits are much larger tho occasionally it does make a small one mixed with larger ones as per this pix;
You can see the little one in my hand,and every other one is larger.
Malta Black is not Celeste is ,way a better plant,and is not MT Etna fig tho is just as robust and cold resistant.
It is much better while ripening during rain,compared to Mt Etna type figs.
Delicious ,with dark red interior,this fig is priceless.
The fruits from European forum are what is known here in the US as Sicilian Black JR.

I also see they wrinkle up nicely on the tree. A great trate to have. I had cuttings that didnt make it but will do some trading and get them again. My trees got a huge head start this year. The malta black is almost a chocolate color instead of black. Nice pics hermen. .

I have the same strain as Herman2, and agree with what he said.  I'd describe it as a better version of Hardy Chicago: it looks similar, but seems a step up in terms of quality.  So whereas I'd consider Mt. Etnas to be about 8/10 on a taste scale, my Malta Black is a 9/10.  The taste isn't just better, it's a little different (maybe a hint of black licorice?  and maybe an extra 'smoothness' to the flavor?).  The Malta Black figs also seem slightly larger than my Mt. Etna figs.

My in-ground outdoor Mt. Etnas make better figs than my greenhouse Mt. Etnas, and my potted greenhouse Malta Black figs are on par with those in-ground outdoor Mt. Etnas.  

My Malta black came from Herman2, in the form of cutting. it still has not produced, I got it because it was described on this forum.
By knowing my source although the name is not an official name, It becomes easy for me to identify or describe the variety.
If I ever get another Malta fig it would have to be Malta something else. I try to always label my figs correctly.

@Greenfin -- experience similar issues with green house grown figs -- not only GH grown figs not tasting as good as
in-ground ones, their color is not as appealing. 

The tree is actually about 4ft tall with decent branching, I think its about 2-3 yrs old at the time. I definitely had better figs off it but that was the only photo I could find unfortunately. It's a terrible representation of the actual fig. Herman's Photo is more true to size. I'll be sure to document some new photos this year.

Ben