For some reason, the mild vanilla taste disappeared this year, but was replaced by lots of sweetness. This is going to be one great fig in another couple years.

Hi Jonathan:My Excell Is acting nuts with all fig Cracking open when rain and having large 3/8Inch eye that have male flower growing out of them.
Her is a picture:Those center spots are the eyes of the fruits.It can be a good fig but not here.Last year did the same.The figs were watery tasting with no caracter.
This year they are not fully ripe yet,so i will see when ripe.

Herman, yes, the eye is huge for some reason.
I have not had problems with it, maybe because it doesn't seem to rain at all here in the summer. All of our rain is in the fall, winter, and spring. But I still have some half-grown figs on this tree still getting moldy on me, and starting to turn yellow, and drop much before they even get to the large swelling size.

Herman, the flowers growing out of them, is what I was refering to when I had that long stringy texture of a pulp. For some reason, I like it like that. So far, this fig has gotten much better with the dropping, and ripening after the 2nd year in the ground. I'd like to see its full potential one day.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I have seen this fig started cracking (stretch marks) that occur, even without the rain.
But it has yet to split open. I just see long white stretch marks as the fig starts to swell and ripen.

And no birds ever attack this fig. = )

Hi Jonathan.I agree it is good for your climate but in mine Large eye pointing up = disaster.
Chieers

No figs on my Excel(s) yet- they were all started cuttings last fall BUT what a hassle to get them started. I thought that I had lost them twice (leaves shriveled and fell off). Thank goodness I have the foolish tenacity of a beginner.... I kept taking care of them anyway and now they are healthy plants (seem to be anyway- ha!)
Anybody else have cuttings come back "from the dead"?
Take care-
Christy

I ate my first big (partial) Excell, a couple of days ago.
I washed the 'half-chewed-by-some-critter-thing',
(I HAD to taste it!) and was above average...

Good News:I ate one Ripe fig with a huge Eye And the taste was indeed very good,as George sayed Above average.
But i also have to take in the account that it did not rain for a whole week,and this does not happen often in this area of country.
I will Give it 9 out of ten.
I do not think it will be allwayes as good here as this fruit was because of the rainy weather.
I am thinking to keep it but not decided yet.
Best Regards

Well, if John needs another NNJ fig lover to give his variety a try for comparisons sake I can be that person...JOHN! ;^)

Christy, I noticed that Excell tend to drop unripe figs like crazy, especially when younger, so you may end up with nothing but dropped figs for a good many years. It gets better over time.