A good Durian has to fall off the tree, if they are picked then they aren't ready and don't taste anywhere near as good as one that is.
Good Durians DO smell, right away, as soon as they fall off the tree.
There are about as many different kinds of Durian as there are apples.
The ones from Thailand are huge and I don't like em that much.
The ones that are grown the most here in Bali tend to taste kind of garlicy and while I love garlic I don't like it in Durians.
The very BESTEST, most delicious Durian that I doubt very many people have tried are from the jungle in Borneo (actually most Durian are, originally). They are only slightly larger than an navel orange and almost white, not yellow. The spikes are curly and when you pick them up they don't hurt because the spikes curl inwards.
They smell sweet sweet sweet and taste heavenly.
The trouble is these ones don't last even 2 days, the tree is quite hard to get growing and they don't bear much fruit. This makes for a fruit that isn't likey to make it into the mass food market anytime soon which is a shame because I am sure it would change a lot of people's minds about eating Durian.
I planted 10 Durian seeds last week and they are already about 15cm tall.
I am trying, VERY hard, to get some seeds of the kind of Durian I talked about above.
Manggis/ Mangosteen are also right up there.
Rambutan are great too, hasn't anyone tried them?
Flipside, you MUST have?
Cheers, Troy.