Music is my primary garlic, a Porcelain variety having large bulbs with 4-6 fat cloves. It is moderately hot and stores longer than most hardnecks. I also love Russian Red and Estonian Red, again yielding large bulbs with fat cloves and excellent flavor.

TomNJ/VA

I second Music, big, bold, dependable. VietNamese Red is a very nice milder variety. Siberian is another that is widely adapted, and has a very nice "bite". Japanese is interesting enough to be called fun with a bit different growth habit large cloves plus also a very respectful "bite". Farther South you might try some of the Creoles. They don't do well up here in Minnesota. All the varieties I name above do well for me here in Zone 4. For variety you might try among the Turbans or Asiatics to see how early you can get your harvest.

At this time of the year or very soon, your local farmers' markets should have locally grown varieties, and may be very good sources of adapted varieties and advice. If you find a superior variety that lacks a formal name, that doesn't make it any less good!

Estonia Red, Music, German extra hardy, Siberian, and Purple Glazer in that order did the best for me as to bulb size this year. Over 60% of my Estonia Red were over 3". I like to grow a mix of Porcelain like Music and GEH which typically have the longest storage for hardnecks at 6-8+ months, Rocambole like Spanish Roja and German Red have shorter storage but offer easy peeling and best true garlic flavor IMO, and purple stripes like Purple Glazer, Estonia Red, and Chesnok Red that have medium to long storage and are great for cooking and best for roasting.

I second the local farmer's markets as a source. Here in the KC area I can source at least 10-12 different named hardneck types from Mid July to September so I have been able to try several over the years and stay with what does best and I like to eat and cull those that don't make the cut.