Malta Black won first place when ,going trough last 2 Winters without protection:
Here is proof:
My tree is in front of property,where it is not possible to Winter protect due to city regulations.
It grew from soil line and formed fruits started at the second or third leaf from base.
Now that is what i call productive.
Should i mention ,it is Early to ripe,delicious and resist rain while is ripening.
Yes it does and ,that is why it should be in everyone garden,From New York,to San Francisco.
This is a 4 years old plant,Mother tree is in the back,even more loaded,at 7 years old.
I have other 3 younger plants in ground on property.
It is replacing Marseilles black vs,as my base tree because Marseilles black vs ,does not resist rain while ripening as much as Malta Black,otherwise in dryer climates both are super productive.

What a beauty and cold hardy!
This one is going on my wish list!

that is pretty impressive considering the winters that we had.....may have to get this tree...

Yes <Harsh Winters,2014 and 15, no fig tree of mine ,had more than 4 inches alive in Spring protected or not.
Of course the non protected ones had 0 live branches.

Beautiful looking tree herman and good to know it is super hardy. I have been contemplating for next years grow to let one or 2 be in-ground, so now this is on the list of contenders. Thanks for info :)

To Have an idea how last 2 Winters were ,in my locale,here is a view from my porch ,toward northwest:
Malta Black fig is ,to the right of a large tree in the front of the pix.
That large tree is a 30 years old Japanese Maple(Bloodgood),belonging to my neighbor.
This maple is three quarter dead ,from the past 2 Winter cold.
In the Bottom quarter of the pix,you can see a small bush,and that was a 15 foot Crape Myrtle I planted about 12 years ago.
It got damaged partially and I had to cut it down,myself in order to save it.
On the road to Burlington Shopping center,in Burlington TWP., there are three more Japanese maple that were growing in the open to the northwest wind,and they all are also damaged badly just like the tree you see,in this picture.
The Malta black died down too,but grew so fast,you will not believe how fast it was back to the height of 2014.

Herman, thanks for the pics and info. My tree did the same this year and is loaded and it came from you. I am also adding another along with a second Carini and Bethlehem Black. They have performed like Malta Black. Mike (newnandawg)

Thanks for the info!
very helpful as usual!

Herman,

How did your MB taste early on?  I have a 2 year old tree that produced some really bland fruit this year.  They looked great, but just had no taste.  But I am holding on to this one because many people say it is really good. 

Thank you for the nice post!
Do you know by any chance if your Malta Black is the same as Bass is selling?

That one looks like a great one to try in-ground here also. On my list it goes lol...

I have no way to know,but if it looks the same, fruits the same,and interior the same,then it is the same.
This cultivar is making fruits identical to what you see on my pixies for 6 years till now.It was bought as a plant by George Micallef, from Former Belleclare Nursery,in NY,just before they closed the Nursery.
I got cuttings from George's plant.
To Mike:This plant made a few fruits ,the second year and they were delicious,but of course i let my fruits get totally ripe till it shrinks a little.

They're great figs. Mine looks very similar, Here's some photos of mine.

 
 

Yes That is it,Bass got the same cultivar.
What makes it different than figs of Mount Etna type is,A predominant three lobe leaf with thicker  lobes,and an eye that is clearly ,smaller ,making it more resistant to rain.
Also the interior is a little darker than Etna type.
This fig is not an Etna type fig,but a better cultivar unique by itself.

Thank you Bass and Vasile!
I agree that Malta Black is not a Mt Etna fig but it is not as productive as a MBVS for me. 
Maybe I just got lucky with my MBVS but it produces non stop and tolerates a drought (I am in CA!) a bit better.
The Malta Black’s growth stalled after the figs appeared for some reason.
I cannot comment on the rain resistance since I have not seen a real rain for 2 years already :(

Herman, I believe this is a fourth year tree and it is doing very well. It is much more productive and the growth is much better and producing fruit After freezing back to the ground, whereas the mbvs was slow to grow and no fruit ripen yet. It also did not split after 2.4 inches of rain Sunday.

Greenfig:What can i say:In your climate,any self fertile fig will make good figs and will not sour easy,but in my climate,beside having a good taste ,fig tree have to be early ripening and resist rain while ripening,or else,it will sour and split so bad that will be non edible.
Marseilles black vs seem to be more drought resistant,and it grows well even in Arizona.
What I would suggest ,grow Malta Black in ground,and water,the plant twice a Week.
I think it suffer from lack of moisture when young,and does not have deep roots.
When roots goes 10 foot deep,it will find water by them self and,will not need watering anymore.
But it will take about 7 years of struggling in your climate,especially the last 4 years,with drought,you guys had,possible that no water is left in the ground anymore.