I am not a snob about almost any fruit, but I am a super snob about apples. A fresh-picked Honeycrisp is my top, so far. Incredibly juicy, sweet, crisp, large, and with a strong secondary taste of flowers.
I actually started growing some in my window way down here in the Keys from seed, but sadly I got distracted with some of my other tropical plants and forgot to water and they died! So sad, as they were doing very well! I will try again, because it was so nice to see a healthy apple tree down here... even though I of course have no idea if I can keep one alive for years, much less be able to fruit one!
Ambrosia is pretty good too, when fresh. I was growing one of those too before my drought of forgetfulness...
The sad thing is, people often have no idea what an apple really tastes like, because the ones in the store are picked at off times, and sit for weeks if not months, coated in a thick layer of wax. They taste nothing like the very same variety ripe off the tree. So it's not really fair to compare varieties based on store-bought fruit (just as is true for tropical fruits, which taste almost nothing at all like their store bought versions). Case in point, I waited for 4 years to be able to get my hands on a SweeTango. I was so excited to finally find one in a store, but although it seemed firm on the outside, it was mealy, bland, and truly disgusting! I doubt that is a really fair assessment of the cultivar as a whole, otherwise it never would have gained such a buzz.
Apples make my world complete. If you can't get a hold of fresh ones, I do think Granny Smith are the closest to retaining actual apple flavor and crispness in the off-seasons. But none of them are really worth it if not fresh, and preferably right off a tree or from the farm of that tree, picked just the day before.
Food is food, but a truly great apple is like experiencing heaven on Earth, while the rest are like walking on the ground.