I love the taste of a crispy russet at xmas.
It's unlikely that Egremont Russet will still be crispy at Xmas - enjoyable yes - of the early apples it's one of the best keepers, but real crispness from store is just too much to ask of an early apple.
There are some later russets which have the extra hardness and extra acidity to keep them tasting fresh and crisp at Xmas. Brownlees is one.
I have a niggling memory that at least one of the less-well known russets is a tip-bearer - maybe Brownlees, maybe St Edmunds - impossible to confirm as nurseries tend to keep this info well hidden - it might explain some problems however - tip bearers cannot abide 'short back and sides' pruning - if you prune like this you get nothing...
If the problem isn't tip-bearing then maybe the type simply doesn't like your climate and you should try (or graft over to...) something else.
The russet keeper I'm most familiar with is Rosemary Russet - it would be excellent for this purpose except that it is probably the least russeted russet I've ever grown!
It may russet up better in your climate but there are other more russeted apples don't have russet in the name - so we are back to my No 1 favourite of all time - the
Ashmeads Kernel (RHS AGM).It is a greyish-brown russet rather than a nice golden one but the flavour & crispness are absolutely unbeatable and the keeping qualities are first division (Sturmer Pippin is better on this angle - but it's not a russet).
Actually the unprepossessing appearance of AK is an advantage if your tree can be scrumped - only the initiated will appreciate it!
Since it got the AGM (which means suggestions of shy bearing are nonsense) it has become much easier to source too.
As to your problem with yield - the answer may be in the phrase "standard tree". Are you sure you haven't got a 'bargain' tree on a semi-dwarfing rootstock in poorish or dryish soil? Such a tree would be 3m after 7 years and still be immature while it is on its way towards 4, 5 or even 6m.
On the other hand a tree on M9 or M26 that was very well mulched for its first year or two and given compost after that would be 3m after 7 years and unlikely to grow a lot bigger (except with a triploid scion but that's another story).
It would probably have produced at least 3 apples in its second summer, and be producing 100% for its size in another 2 years.
Another possibility is the phrase "planted a good size". It is generally accepted that bare-rooted feathered maidens make the most reliable well-rooted trees and bigger/older trees are progressively more prone to poor rooting and circular root systems where the roots keep behaving as if they were still in the original pot. Overfeeding and overwatering can make this worse.
Current best practice is to dig a good sized
square hole, plant your tree encouraging the roots to spread even if you have to remove some circular ones, backfill with lightened, not fertilised soil (some garden compost is OK), and cover with at least 1sq metre of very heavy mulch - black plastic is fine. Keep the mulch in place for at least a year, water regularly and deeply but only weekly at most except in dry spells, and don't use fertiliser until 2nd year at earliest - after the roots have been forced to make their own way in the world.
Cheers
