This was one of my very first distance drivers and I loved it. It was perfect for my poor form and slow arm speed at the time. It wouldn't turn over but, rather flip to flat and push forward. An absolute great disc for a beginner. 

I don't know why the XL is so hard to find these days, especially in premium plastics.  I have a pink ESP XL that is one of my favorite discs to throw.  The XL has the perfect combination of turn and fade for a woods fairway driver.  I would rate the flight of this disc at 7 / 5 / -2 / 2, which is a little bit more fade and a little more glide than the published flight numbers.

This is an incredibly versatile driver, and it can throw nearly any type of line you would want when playing in the woods.  It's great at S curves, hyzer flips to flat, great at holding anhyzer through the whole flight, but it's outstanding for late turn over shots.  I've found this disc to be very controllable.  You can throw a lot of different shots, but being slightly off on your hyzer angle won't mean a huge difference in how the disc flies like it does with some other discs.  This disc has great glide, so it will carry a fair distance, but it's definitely a control driver.  You'll probably want to reach for something faster on a long wide open hole, but any time you have trees to avoid, the XL is a great disc to let you get around them and still pick up good distance.

The rim on my ESP XL is easy to grip, shallow, but not too shallow, and narrower in width than most fairway drivers.  The ESP plastic is also great for grip.  Reading the other reviews, it sounds like this disc will fly differently in different plastics.  I can highly recommend the XL in ESP.

On paper these look like teebirds, but they are not. They have less glide and stability, the two things that make teebirds so good. They do feel good in the hand and are useful for 350 and under. For me they are like a mid with 20 more feet of distance or if I were to throw a mid in a headwind this would be a good option. I had to choose a plastic but elite-Z wasn't an option but that's what I threw.

Solid fairway driver, thin rim that's easy to grip, it's a little higher profile that I usually like but not terrible.  The XL has a lot of glide and can feel like more of a control driver than fairway driver sometimes because of how far it will glide out.  As it breaks in it will display more glide and sometime become difficult to control the flip.  I love the XL in cold weather because the extra glide can make up for lost distance.

Thrown lightly it's pretty straight with a decent fade.  Thrown harder it will display turn and often long s-curves.  I need to drop the angle and flip it more than I usually prefer in order to get a long straight flight.  The recent limited run ESP XLs have nice flight out of the box and show less turn.  FLX XLs get quite flippy, but they are great for touch shots at lower power.

Occasionally I'll throw the XL near full power for a long anhyzer.  It handles the torque decently and usually won't dive, but it also won't come back and will give me a long smooth landing. The XL is affected a lot by wind and I wouldn't throw it hard into a head wind.  It's great for tailwinds and can ride a cross wind well, but it will get tossed if you expose the flight plate to the cross wind.

A well rounded fairway driver that is very fun to throw. XLs will go straight with a small fade at the end of the flight. They are pretty point and shoot and good for woods golf. XLs may be older than a lot of discs out there but they are a classic for a reason. I'd recommend that everybody gives it a shot although they are getting harder to find. 

EDIT: I have recently picked up some additional power due to improved technique, and as such the XL is firmly in my bag. For a moderate power thrower, this is a very straight disc with a reliable small fade at the end of flight. It holds lines really well and the moderate rim and low profile are very comfortable in hand.

I'd recommend this disc highly to beginners (in anything but Pro-D plastic which is the worst plastic you can buy, totally worthless). I have an ESP XL and the feel is great. 

The XL is an easy to use fairway driver.  Very straight flyer with a maybe a slight turn and minimal fade. The rim is kind of small which is the only non-favorable point of this disc. 

My XL is a 173g ESP and I have a had it in and out of the bag over a couple of years.  For me the XL is a straight flyer with maybe a just a hint of turn then a nice fade at the end.  I you don't need a lot of arm speed for this disc and that is why I would say it would be ok for a newer player.  My issue is I don't care for the feel and grip I get on the XL.  Also it seems no matter how good I throw it I just can't seem to get over about 275ft with it.  I can throw my Discraft Comet as far and I have more control with it.