Originally Posted by dddd

The best leather saddles I've used are the Ideale 80 and the Wrights W3ST, which is a B17 with thinner, textured-top leather.

I find the WTB Lazer to be the most versatile saddle, excellent in all ways.

My favorite might be the Serfas TEGU mtb saddle, shown below with a fairly broad, flat top and the best quality padding. It has a dip to it like most mtb saddles, so I found it best to set it up with the front half level and with the rear half giving some lift when I slide back for seated climbing.
I found these hollow-ti railed saddles being sold for just $20 each at Jenson online, so bought another six of them after the first one seemed to meet all requirements.