The ones I had were very good. Still astrigient, but you cover them in salt or sugar and shake them in a box until they are all beat up, and it removes most of the astrigiency (salt better than sugar, but I don't like things heavily salted). I also waited for some to become wrinkly and the lost their astrigiency and were very sweet, like prunes.
The ones I had had a decent amount of flesh, even when dried out. I can't remember the flavor perfectly, but it was somewhere along the lines of a red grape or wine with blackberry hints. I think anyways. Unsure about your other two questions.