My current Top Five:
Dan Bidinger B-Grind Workhorse 240 x 60 260g - AEB-L Monosteel
The Nine Workhorse 245 x 61 258g - 1.2519 / Soft Iron (Lazy Twist)
Milan Gravier Midweight 243 x 59 238g - 135Cr3 / Wrought Iron
Bryan Raquin KT to Classic 230 x 52 194g - 145sc / xc10
Halcyon Forge 220 x 53 222g - 1.2519 / Wrought Iron (Wagon Wheel)
Current Top 10:
Yanick Puig 245 x 58 221g - 135Cr3 / Vintage Iron
Xerxes 235 x 57 281g - Apex Ultra / 1.2767
Kippington 240 x 55 220g - 52100 Monosteel
Joel Black 253 x 56 316g - Apex Ultra / Wrought Iron
Billipp 240 x 63 317g 52100 Monosteel
I've limited myself to one entry per maker. Otherwise you'd probably see repeats.
This list is ever-shifting. There is a general theme here though. I don't like pure cutting lasers. I
****ing hate food stiction. I cannot abide produce riding up the blade and toppling over the back, like they're storming a ****ing castle or something. I favor a balance between cutting performance and food release. All of these knives hit a sweet spot, but achieve it through different means. The Kipp and Xerxes for example have extreme distal taper and fat convex grinds at the heel, which satisfy my need for food release, but also have laser thin tips for fine knife work. The Raquin has a tapered grind and forged geometry creating performance similar to an S-Ground knife. I think the Yanick also has similar, if less pronounced, geometry features present. The others are mostly workhorse-ish convex grinds, with the exception of the Bidinger, which has the added benefit of the B-Grind.
Any of these knives could be top five on any given day, depending on my mood, which made this exercise quite difficult. If I'm favoring pure cutting performance, the Xerxes, Kipp and Billipp are top contenders. If I'm valuing no-frills, zero stiction headaches, the Raquin is at the top of the pile. The others have a very nice balance between cutting performance and food release.
I've also got a few knives that I haven't had enough time with that might bump some of these.
P.S. I don't consider the Gigantoku a gyuto, otherwise it would have been top five easy.