Hi!
Like you, I’ve been working with espalier in a smaller in-town yard. Our oldest trees will be starting their fourth year from bench-grafting in the spring, and there are signs that we may be starting to get fruit from some of them in the near future.
Out of the varieties that you mention, I am growing Ashmead’s, Kidd’s, and Orleans Reinette. Again, no fruit yet, but here are a few thoughts on my experience with each so far:
Ashmead’s has been a very slow grower to this point for me. Other factors may be at play (moved it out of the nursery too late one spring, and it may be dealing with some root competition from a nearby maple tree). But, doesn’t seem like the most vigorous variety. Fairly healthy but will get a bit of CAR.
Kidd’s has mostly been pretty smooth sailing so far, and its growth habit seems particularly amenable to espalier. Kind of right in the sweet spot in terms of vigor and branching tendencies. It does seem to attract more aphids than most of my trees (a characteristic of the Cox family, from what I understand), but that hasn’t been a major issue once I learned to keep an eye out for it.
Orleans Reinette has been a nice, healthy tree, but it seems to want to frizz out into clusters of twiggy growth when it gets headed back, as one does in some of the espalier systems. Not a big deal but something to keep an eye out for. Also, it seems to have a tendency to get going late and keep going late in terms of leafing out/vegetative growth. (Westfield Seek No Further has also shown this tendency for me.) A little bit on the less vigorous end.
Of these varieties, I have tasted Ashmead’s and Orleans Reinette, though very limited samples and not my own fruit. Ashmead’s was good but not out-of-this-world good (it may have needed more time to mellow), but Orleans was really terrific: crisp, rich, and at the same time almost effervescent. One of the best apples I’ve ever eaten. (In answer to your question, it seems to tend more to partial russet than to a full coat - a very pretty apple.)
Another variety not on your list that I would rate very highly is Roxbury Russet. Not highly vigorous, at least in its early years, but seems very healthy and espalier-friendly, and really exceptional in terms of flavor (to my taste anyway - and again, not yet based on my own fruit).
Thinking about others that seem to be working particularly well for us, I would mention Hunt Russet, Fall Russet, Pitmaston Pineapple, and Cornish Aromatic.
Note: We are in 5b/6a. Our trees are growing in several stretches of Belgian fence, so overlapping Ys on 2’ centers, and we grafted them on G41 (mostly) and G202 (I think). For my purposes, G41 seems to provide a good level of vigor for most varieties, though some might call for a little more (Ashmead’s and Pumpkin Russet) and some others maybe a little less (Black Oxford and Wheeler’s Golden Russet).
Tydeman’s is also intriguing to me. (And I should try and track down that book.)