Apple Brandy On the Rocks By Kilian

Now please, don't tell anyone, but I ordered a sample set from Skins because the money didn't stretch for a full bottle of Sweetly Known or Lamar. After I placed the order, a sneaky mail came in that a retailer had 20 percent off an already discounted perfume. That perfume was Apple Brandy. Luckily, one of the samples in my sample set was exactly that, Apple Brandy On the Rocks by Kilian. How could I not?

I snagged the full bottle and couldn't wait to try it when the sample set arrived. After all, I can always return the full bottle.

From first spray, Apple Brandy is a green and crisp apple scent. Even after dry down, the note is fresh and delicious! Very realistic and endearing. The fragrance has a wonderful richness, a depth from cardamom, but not as strong as in Sweetly Known, in this juice, the note just perfectly balances the tart apple. 

A little while later, the cardamom becomes the main note along with some discreet brandy and just a hint of pineapple sweetness without the characteristic juiciness or tropical note that pineapple usually has (or let's be honest, like it is wonderfully presented in Lamar).

Funny thing is, and it just hit me, Apple Brandy is a faint mix of Sweetly Known and Lamar! What a surprise! I got a two in one! 

Now, on second wear, a week later, I have to say that the scent is a little raunchy at first. What went wrong? Apple Brandy is still a green, crisp apple, but it is as if something has gone bad. My boyfriend came back from a run outside and when he came back, he said that our apartment smells like a sauna! And you know what? I do get it too - damp wood, imagine walking into a sauna that just has been used and is ready for the next group; sweatiness, a little musky undertone; and sour wood, the tart apple note only pushes the sauna experience with the sour resin in the wood being heated up repeatedly. At the moment, my nose cannot smell anything else. Imagine a classic sauna room build with wood on all four walls including flooring and the ceiling. 

After dry down, luckily, the sauna has gone. Mostly.

Apple Brandy has definitely been tainted by the illusion of a sauna and though I liked it at first, I am planning on returning the full bottle.