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Apple Brandy New York Kilian 2013

8.0 / 10 174 Ratings

A popular perfume by Kilian for women and men, released in 2013. The scent is woody-spicy. It was last marketed by Estēe Lauder Companies.
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Main accords

Woody

Spicy

Sweet

Fruity

Gourmand

Fragrance Notes

Oak barrel

Spanish labdanum

Texas cedar

Ambroxan

Chinese white cedar Vanilla

Vanilla

Perfumer

Sidonie Lancesseur

Ratings

Scent

8.0174 Ratings

Longevity

7.8147 Ratings

Sillage

7.2149 Ratings

Bottle

8.6162 Ratings

Value for money

6.151 Ratings

Submitted by Freeestyler, last update on 07/13/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Pomme Trempée

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Apple Brandy on the Rocks

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Reviews

9 in-depth fragrance descriptions

05/05/2021

9.5Scent 5Longevity 5Sillage

Itchynose
41 Reviews

Itchynose

Helpful Review 2

Partying with Mr. Bond

Sidonie Lancesseur, the perfumer behind Kilian's Apple Brandy is also the nose responsible for many other wonderfully boozy scents such as Straight to Heaven, Single Malt or Frapin's 1270. To say she has mastered the alcoholic genre would be an understatement.

Here Madame Lancesseur has created yet another quintessential masculine Kilian fragrance: boozy but classy, sober yet playful, elegant and mischievous at the same time like a James Bond in party mode. In that sense the scent shares more similarities with the sweet Single Malt than the drier Straight to Heaven, although if the former featured whiskey and the latter rum, in Apple Brandy the protagonist drink is a more laid-back calvados or distilled cider liquor.

The sharp, tannin-filled opening is followed by the deep aroma of old oak barrels and smoke, and the balance of this simple and effective combo shifts as the scent dries down, from a rather fruity and very alcoholic opening to a much woodier, comforting and subdued final phase. Performance is discreet throughout but acceptable, perhaps a necessity for a subtle scent that invites a few chosen ones to come closer if they want great things to happen.

All in all another beautiful creation worth celebrating with the right company and a drink or two.

07/13/2025

5.5Scent 5Longevity 3Sillage

NicheOnly
116 Reviews

NicheOnly

2

Underwhelming to say the least

Before Kilian released Old Fashioned, the decently executed product adjacent to the discontinued London exclusive Single Malt London, Kilian had already been selling Apple Brandy on the Rocks (AB OTR) for years. Similarly to Old Fashioned, AB OTR came as a worldwide alternative to Kilian's New York exclusive Apple Brandy New York, yet in a way, I'm not sure there even was sufficient demand to remaster this.

These are some of my thoughts on my first wear of a recent 50ml full display blind-buy.

With 4 sprays on my left hand, Apple Brandy New York opens sweet-fruity-boozy. Within milliseconds you can spot the resemblance to Apple Brandy on the Rocks as it has that exact same sweet-crisp Apfelschorle type smell. AB NY's top smells spicier and boozier than the fruity-fresh ambroxan-driven profile of the On The Rocks version.

However, it is in the transition where the differences between the 2 products really begin to distance themselves. Very much like the dry-down of Single Malt London, there is a present amber tonality incorporated into Apple Brandy New York as it features the same style of medicinal-smelling labdanum, albeit in lower quantities than with Single Malt. The key aspect of AB NY's dry-down, however, is the dominating presence of woodiness. I would dare to say that the woodiness featured here is even more prevalent than in the re-released version of Single Malt, i.e. Old Fashioned, as you get a hefty dose of oak with a moderate amount of cedar and a mild accompanying feel of booziness.

Ultimately, that's where Apple Brandy New York ends up at: in this very woody dry-down with moderate medicinal ambers and that bitter-boozy touch. The re-released version, i.e. Apple Brandy on the Rocks, retains the opening of the original version and takes the scent in a fresh-fruity direction with zero ambers and mild-to-moderate woodiness, losing out on performance (which isn't great to begin with) in the process. I'd rate the performance here to be subpar much like with many of the other scents mentioned in this review: I'd give it around 6 hours of longevity on soft sillage.

As a somewhat unexpected takeaway from this review; I would dare to say that Old Fashioned, the relaunch of Single Malt London, actually smells more like Apple Brandy New York than it does like Single Malt as the wood-dominant base tones and the bitter-boozy touches offer strong overlap between the two, esp. on-skin. Unfortunately, even with that overlap, AB NY has fewer nuances in its execution, making it inferior to Old Fashioned and miles off the highs of Single Malt. I would conclude by saying that this is discontinued for a good reason.

01/23/2015

9Scent 7.5Longevity 7.5Sillage

Leimbacher
2873 Reviews

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Leimbacher

Top Review 17

Unfortunately awesome!

1/3 ml is enough... to blow me away! No matter how often I have criticized Kilian as an expensive copycat (mostly rightly so!) - Apple Brandy, the New York exclusive, is top-class scent cinema, unique enough & one of the best boozy alcohol fragrances you can buy for money!

There are 2 main buyer groups that will find Apple Brandy brilliant: wood fetishists & scent alcoholics who love rum, brandy & whiskey in fragrances. If you find yourself in the intersection of both groups, I believe it will be over for you faster than you can say overdraft. Vodka on the Rocks from Moscow will have a hard time topping this - but it certainly deserves a chance. However, getting a sample of that is currently almost impossible.

Apple Brandy is fascinating, delicious, alcoholic, party-ready, luxurious, thick. Especially the top note is typically Kilian and hits everything out of the park that you can imagine. I love it so exaggerated, but the last time I got hit with something like this was from the doctor at my birth. And of course with Tobacco Vanille. The bigger question than a striking, attention-grabbing top note is the further development. Does a generic, boring second half of the fragrance come, which is just as typically Kilian as the head full of apples floating in brandy oak barrels? Not quite. Of course, it does mellow out, and that's why it doesn't reach the top rating, but I also like the cedar-like final act and the alcohol-soaked base mood.

Bottle: you also pay for this chic presentation!
Sillage: a going-out fragrance for bars & chic clubs.
Longevity: the woody base lasts up to 12 hours on my skin.

Conclusion: when I visit the city that never sleeps & my account is still full, I probably won't be able to resist this high-proof, expensive souvenir. At this level, only Pure Malt can evoke a similar fascination & euphoria in me.

11/22/2015

8.5Scent 7.5Longevity 7.5Sillage

DonJuanDeCat
2046 Reviews

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DonJuanDeCat

Very helpful Review 8

Open a barrel!

Do you know that feeling? Sometimes, when you test a perfume, it smells so strongly of alcohol that you have to wrinkle your nose before the scent becomes pleasant. Other times, however, the fragrance smells rather deliciously of alcohol, and you would rather just down it right away.
Well, with Apple Brandy, we have an alcoholic note that smells pleasant and seems quite tasty, … although it’s probably best not to drink it…

But you can definitely apply it. Because, as I said, it smells quite good. Here’s my scent impression:

The scent:
It starts woody and sweet. You can quickly perceive the alcohol, which has turned out really well and should appeal to anyone who likes alcoholic fragrance notes. Additionally, you can also smell a bit of tobacco. The wood notes come through very well, but I can't say if it's the oak barrel.
Shortly after, the fruity notes (apples) become a bit stronger, and the scent also becomes sweeter, probably due to the labdanum and ambroxan. I can also detect the vanilla quite early, which makes the scent softer and gentler.
In the base, the scent is mainly woody and fruity with the sweet accents from the heart note. I also perceive the light tobacco note again.

The longevity and sillage:
The longevity is quite okay; the scent lingers on the skin for at least eight to ten hours.
The fragrance projects fairly strongly and remains at this level for one or two hours before it slightly weakens, but is still quite noticeable.

The bottle:
The rectangular bottle is black and has thick glass edges. On the sides, there are elegantly shaped, circular patterns (or they would be circular if the bottle were larger). On the front, there is a metal plaque with the name and brand of the fragrance, written in a beautiful script, which makes the whole bottle look even more elegant. The black cylindrical cap features the Kilian logo on the top.

Apple Brandy is a fragrance that smells of alcoholic notes, but you shouldn't imagine it as trailing a scent cloud behind you because you've looked too deeply into your glass. No, it is a pleasantly fruity and woody scented fragrance that reminds one of an alcoholic drink.

I wouldn’t necessarily call this a daily scent, and it’s not particularly suitable for the office either. But as an evening fragrance, it is quite wonderful, whether you’re going out to celebrate or sitting in a bar, although in the latter case, the scent might get lost among all the other alcoholic notes :D

As for the season, I would recommend autumn and winter, as Apple Brandy doesn’t quite fit the warmer season. But on colder (and wetter) days, it fits perfectly and warms you up, just like a sip of rum or something similar warms the body on frosty days (okay, I hope you all know that’s not really true, but it’s a widely held misconception!).

Anyway, feel free to test it out. Anyone who doesn’t like alcohol should steer clear of this fragrance, but everyone else should give it a try. I personally think the scent is great!

03/20/2020

9Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

Sinairq
17 Reviews

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Sinairq

9

Party Tent, Village Disco and Sophisticated Gentleman?

Well, thanks to the current crisis and the resulting free time, I finally decided to write my first comment on a fragrance.
My nose is not very experienced, but with this scent, which I find quite one-dimensional, I dare to express an opinion.

First of all:
The house of Kilian quickly won me over; a certain class and elegance is conveyed not only by the name Hennessy but also by the overall presentation and packaging.
Beautiful boxes, custom-made cases lined with velvet, complete with locks, and flacons that feel very high-quality. All in all, very nice. If you combine this with my preference for boozy scents, you can imagine that I feel quite at home when it comes to "sniffing" the fragrances this house has to offer. After Single Malt, Intoxicated, Black Phantom, and Back to Black, I was in the mood for something new:

Enter Apple Brandy!
The name is, as expected, programmatic.
However, the first whiff brought back memories that absolutely do not fit the image of the "premium brand" that Kilian wants to create.
I grew up as a village kid, and there isn't much to do in the village besides frolicking in nature and driving the neighbors crazy when you kick a ball against a wall on the playground with half a dozen other kids during the midday quiet hours.
By the time I hit my teenage years, there were then shooting festivals, village discos, and... exactly, alcohol.
Sometimes mixed up, sometimes too much, but always somehow present: Korn, Berentzen, or Obstler.
Imagine a tent combined with Schlager hits, Wolfgang Petry, stuffy air, smoke, pretty girls, and blurred vision, all topped off with the scent of schnapps wafting from almost every face.
Apple Brandy brings back exactly this feeling for me and even more.
Upon the first spray, I am overwhelmed by this alcoholic note, while a light apple note gently wafts in the background.
Yes, hello and straight to the head with the stuff. Just before closing time, we grabbed a bottle of Sour Apple from Edeka before heading out to party, and it has to be finished before we can go into the tent.
So down it goes quickly, intense and short. The bottle is empty, but the scent lingers.
Waiting at the bus stop, warm air, and the guys around. The scent of the drink surrounds us like a cloud while we huddle in the small wooden hut.
You feel grown-up, masculine, intoxicated, and ready for more.
One pulls out a small bag, tobacco he swiped from his father's pack, and some rolling papers. Cool as we are, we try to roll our own cigarettes, more poorly than well, with tobacco landing everywhere and the scent mixing lightly in the air. Before we light the first one, a group of girls squeezes in with us.
It smells slightly of vanilla, pleasant.

The scent remains something beautiful for me.
Many describe it as gentleman-like, mature, perhaps even distinguished.
I can completely understand and see why someone would describe this scent that way, as it is a Kilian, boozy and impressive, but also not much more. Schnapps, to be precise, apple schnapps, and I personally associate this with village festivals and unrestrained joy.
Sure, Kilian is too refined for this level, and of course, you don't smell like a drunken teenager with a bottle of Obstler in hand when wearing this perfume, but rather something "elevated."
However, compared to whiskey or cognac, I believe that brandy simply does not have that gentleman club/bar flair that so many want to perceive as upscale.

Sillage and longevity are completely within the range.
With a performance (on my skin) of about 9 hours and a sillage that is noticeable enough not to be intrusive, you can wear it like that. Maybe not exactly to work.
It will surely be great in the cold season, but I can also imagine it on a balmy summer evening in nature.

All scent alcoholics will definitely enjoy this thing.
Whether the ladies will like it, I would rather doubt, but scent perception is always quite subjective and dependent on the person.

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