David, I'm a northern grower...
I just got Absolute Ripper this past year about mid- to late-season, so I only witnessed a few blooms for it, but it wowed me! I'm on a new computer, so I don't have any pictures handy, but I'll have to try and find some to post. I love how BIG the blooms on this are and this is one of my first toothy cultivars in my garden. I love it!
I'm trying to remember if it had a fragrance or not. I seem to think it might have had a light fragrance, but clearly nothing noteworthy on that scale or I'd likely remember it.
For hybridizing purposes, it seems to be a GREAT pollen parent. Since I only had a few blooms on my Absolute Ripper, though, I can't speak as to how good of a pod parent it is for me. I think I got 1-2 pods from it. I'm guessing I had 4 blooms total?...
If you like 'em big, if you like 'em toothy, or even if you just like 'em pretty and purple, I can definitely recommend Absolute Ripper.
As for hardiness, I haven't had it through a full year yet, but since I got it from another northern gardener, I have to imagine it is pretty hardy up here. Certainly through zone 6a, at the very least, but I'd wager it's hardy into zone 5b or even cooler.
