McIntosh apples do not keep well, and it's very rare to find them significantly out of season. This time of year it would be difficult to find anyone with McInt

McIntosh apples do not keep well, and it's very rare to find them significantly out of season. This time of year it would be difficult to find anyone with McIntosh available, now or a couple decades ago. They are a very popular apple in the northeastern US, though, so if you grew up in that area it's no surprise you found them everywhere, for probably ~5 months out of the year. While it's certainly true that the varieties of apple available are much larger now than they were, unfortunately a lot of the common varieties nowadays are bred with longevity more in mind than flavor, and also have parentage from e.g. red delicious and share its distinctive cardboard flavor (in my opinion).