mbmango, you must not have tasted the real Honey (CA) mandarin, VI-133. I think there are three types that were at one time called honey mandarin/tangerine so it could get confusing. I grow all three types. You can get the details of the varieties from the CCPP budwood website.
1.Honey mandarin, VI-133
2.Murcott mandarin (FL Honey), VI-147
3.W. Murcott Afourer, VI-462
If the fruit you tasted was not small with many seeds, then it sounds like you ate the W. Murcott Afourer, VI-462. This fruit is medium size, skin is bright orange, peels easy and flesh is juicy but taste is bland. Of the three, this is the one I like the least. The other two are very good, I rank it as shown, they are sweet & tart. I keep a graft of the VI-462 just to have the variety for comparison of tastes. My tree has been in ground for over 7yrs and the taste of this fruit has not changed.
You will like the taste of Shiranui fruit, it should have fruits in 2 years, but the excellent taste may not show up until year 3. At least for me that is how its been. Now my tree has very good tasting fruits so I ended up grafting a lot more Shiranui on my trees. Also, don't pick the ripe fruit until Feb to get the best taste.