Hello first posting. Thank you everyone. Im looking for some limbertwig apple info. Has been impossible to find anyone that can personally tell me the differences in the red royal and royal. Has anyone here tasted both? Which is sweeter?
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There are several members here that have Limbertwigs and I am sure that some have both of these but I am not sure who has tasted both 
Welcome to the forum 
I have a Red Royal LT but I just grafted it this year. @greyphase @hambone might likely have some info for you about them.
Thank you very much for the reply. Im hoping hambone will chime in. I know from this forum he grows both and hope he can give me some insight. Thanks again!
Howdy. I had let’s call it “an unfortunate occurence” with my Royal LT. OK- I accidentally cut off the Royal branch when pruning. !!! So I re-grafted Royal but will be a few years. I will have Red Royal to taste this Fall. Red Royal was Lee Calhoun’s favorite limbertwig. I suspect both are good. I doubt there’s much taste difference.
Two fabulous limbertwig collections are owned by @thepodpiper and @greyphase. I bet they’ve tasted both.
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Thats very unfortunate 
but i kind of did something similar on mine. The top of the scion died and was growing from the bottom only. So i tried to cut it back to one shoot and i killed it. So now im trying to figure out if should devote the time and space to it and brushy mountain, which also died after coming out of dormancy. All my other limbertwigs are growing like weeds so i think i had rootstock failure as the trees were only in the ground a couple months.
Others in the mountains of NC may disagree but in my climate (Chesapeake Bay Md) Brushy Mtn LT has no redeeming values except long storage life. I would not waste orchard space on it or Caney Fork or Kentucky LT -a fireblight monster here.
For whatever reason, both Brushy Mountain and Caney Fork are quite good after a few months of storage in my relatively cool climate (coastal Northern California). My Kentucky LT graft failed, so I can’t comment on that one.
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Interesting how ive heard nothing but good things about brushy mountain in california. It even won first place in santa cruz. Im in zone 7 in northern az and have white and old fashion fruiting for the first time. Kind of excited to see what they are like. I think im gonna pull the trigger again on brushy and red royal and see how they do in my hot and dry weather here. Have any of you had white? I cant find any info on it.
I grow White and Red Royal LT here, and both are very good. In this climate, White is quite similar to Caney Fork and also benefits from storage. Red Royal is among my favorites. I’ll also be sampling Myers’ Royal, Victoria, Swiss, and Black LT this season.
I, too, am interested in reviews of Royal.
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So is the red royal the sweetest of the limbertwigs you’ve had?
Ate my first Red Royal last fall and was pleased with the taste. My Royal Limbertwig is only 2 years old and on MM111 rootstock so will be a few more years until I get to bite into one. Black, Swiss and Victoria have been good fresh eating, but Myer’s Royal is my favorite with the perfect blend of sweet and tart taste (at least to my palate). First time tasting Kentucky last year was only so-so, but that might change as the tree matures. Red, Brushy Mountain and Caney Fork have not impressed me yet but have had Plum Curcuilo problems in these trees so have not had many chances to try them. All of these varieties are on 5-6 year old trees so hope to have more opinions in the future. On 1-3 year old trees I have Ruby, Fall, Virginia, Summer, Rocky River, Levering, Hanging Dog, Weaver’s Red Sweet, Watts, Mammoth, White, Nanthalia, Ashford, Myer’s Green, Smokey Mountain, Little, Old Fashioned, Alberta, Seedling, Ramsey, Ben Lomand, and American. This spring’s grafts include Slemp and possible Striped and Golden Limbertwigs. I might just be obsessed with Limbertwigs but hey a guy could have worst addictions. 
Remember that Limbertwigs were raised by subsistence farmers so some varieties may be better for cider, drying, vinegar, baking, apple butter or storage than eating fresh off the tree.
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That is the most amazing list of limbertwig varieties ive ever seen. Talk about envious! Even varieties that were thought be extinct. Hensley and Morton would be so proud. Ive become intrigued by them as well. First it was heirloom apples but then after planting 100 plus varieties and just seeing the growth and vigor of these trees I realized they were my favorites. Plus the history on em is just too cool. I know its hard to compare but is the meyers royal less sweet and maybe a little more acidic than the red royal?
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Right off the tree, yes, though I suspect that Victoria may prove to be sweeter. All grow sweeter in storage.
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I only had a few Red Royal’s last fall so it’s hard to say. From the looks of things I’ll be able to give you a better comparison this fall.
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Any updates on limbertwigs this season fellas? I had some old fashion for the first time and they were very good. Exceeded expectations.
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The Myers Royal and Red Royal continue to be my favorites. Crisp and juicy with a great sweet-tart flavor. Had a couple Swiss LT that were also good. My Victoria are a hard, dense apple, I didn’t get enough to try in storage. Brushy Mountain are also a hard dense apple and and still hanging tight. Kentucky had a much better flavor this year over last. More sweet than tart. I made alot of apple sauce from them. I have a two year old Old Fashion LT on M111 so it will be a while before I get to try them. Ron Joyner of Big Horse Creek Farm rates the Myers Green LT as a fine eating apple.
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My Red Royals, Blacks, Swiss LTs are all in cold storage for re-tasting around Christmas. Will post results then. Hoping storage unlocks some flavor.
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Great selections of Limbertwigs. Some that I have not seen all in one place that you have. Excellent job of finding them and growing them. I agree, Tim Hensley and Rev. Morton would be very proud and happy to see all the Limbertwigs you have collected. Pleaae keep us updated on how they are doing and especially how they taste and compare with each other.
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Hi. I am have a small nursery of apple trees including various limbertwigs. I would love to know how you rank the limbertwigs you have on taste.
Kentucky LT
Red Royal LT
Smokey Mt. (Ramsey) LT
Victoria LT
Swiss LT
Caney Fork LT
Myers Royal LT
Black LT
Ruby LT
Ben Lomond LT
or any others that you really like.
Thanks very much, FRank
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Taste can be very subjective my favorites are
Myers Royal
Red Royal
Kentucky
Black
Victoria
Have a nice crop of Caney Fork to try for the first time this fall.
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