What does apple smell like? The crisp, fresh note everyone recognises

Apple might be the most familiar fruit smell in the world. Almost everyone knows the crunch of a fresh apple, the smell of apple pie, or the sharp scent of cider. In perfume, apple can be crisp and green, sweet and red, or warm and boozy. It is often the first thing you smell when you spray a fresh, fruity perfume.

What does it smell like?

Fresh, juicy and clean, with a sweet-sour balance. Depending on the style, apple can show:

• Green crunch: sharp and tart, like biting into a Granny Smith
• Red sweetness: softer and honeyed, like a ripe red apple
• Juice and cider: a watery, slightly fermented freshness
• Baked and spiced: warm and caramel-like, like apple pie or toffee apple
• Brandy: a deep, boozy richness in darker perfumes

Green apple feels cool and sporty. Red and baked apple feels cosy and sweet. That range is why apple appears in everything from fresh men's colognes to dessert-like gourmands.

Where it comes from

The domestic apple is Malus domestica. Its wild ancestor is Malus sieversii, a wild apple that still grows in the Tian Shan mountains of Central Asia, around Almaty in Kazakhstan. The city's old name, Alma-Ata, is often translated as "father of apples".

From there, apples travelled along trade routes, including the Silk Road, into Persia, Europe and beyond. Today apples are grown in cool regions all over the world. China grows the most by far. Other big growers include the United States, Turkey, Poland and India, where apples come mainly from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

How it's made

Apples are mostly water. Their smell comes from tiny amounts of light, fast-fading molecules in the skin and flesh. You cannot steam-distil an apple into a useful perfume oil. Heat would change the smell, and the yield would be almost nothing. So in perfume, apple is an accord: a blend that recreates the smell from many parts.

Scientists have found that much of an apple's smell comes from a few families of molecules:

• Esters, such as hexyl acetate and ethyl 2-methylbutyrate. These give the sweet, fruity, juicy side.
• Green aldehydes, such as hexanal. These smell like freshly cut grass and give the crisp, "just bitten" feel.
• Damascenone, a trace molecule that adds a cooked, honeyed depth. It is also important in rose.

Perfume houses also make their own apple-like materials. Together with musks, citrus and woods, these let a perfumer choose between a sharp green apple and a sweet, ripe red one.

Note that apple blossom is a separate note. It smells soft, floral and slightly powdery, not like the fruit.

A short history of apple

• Ancient world: Apples were grown in Persia, Greece and Rome. Greek myths tell of golden apples, including the one that started the quarrel that led to the Trojan War.
• The Garden of Eden: The Bible never says the forbidden fruit was an apple. The idea may have grown partly from a Latin pun: malum can mean both "apple" and "evil".
• Europe: Monks and farmers grew many apple varieties. Cider became a major drink in places like Normandy in France and the west of England. Normandy is also home to Calvados, an apple brandy.
• Around the world: Apples became part of countless traditions, from toffee apples at autumn fairs to apple dishes during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
• Perfume: Fresh fruit notes grew popular in the 1990s and early 2000s, and apple became one of the most recognisable of them.

Apple in modern perfume

The most famous apple perfume is probably Be Delicious by DKNY (2004). Its bottle is shaped like an apple, and the scent is built around a crisp green apple with cucumber and grapefruit. It became a best-seller and made apple a signature of fresh, youthful perfume.

Nina by Nina Ricci (2006), created by Olivier Cresp and Jacques Cavallier, came in a red apple bottle. Its scent leans sweeter, with citrus, a toffee apple note and soft musks.

Apple also became important in men's perfume. Aventus by Creed (2010) opens with apple, pineapple, blackcurrant and bergamot, and it became one of the most talked-about men's perfumes of its era. Apple now appears in many fresh masculine scents to add a clean, juicy lift.

Real vs synthetic apple

There is no practical "apple oil" in perfume. Apple notes are created with synthetic esters, aldehydes and other molecules, sometimes alongside natural citrus and woods.

• The good side: perfumers can tune the apple exactly. They can make it sharp, sweet, juicy or baked.
• The catch: a cheap apple accord can smell like shampoo or sweets. A well-made one smells fresh, natural and full of life.

As with most fruit notes, quality depends on the skill of the perfumer, not on whether the materials are natural.

What apple pairs well with

• Bergamot and lemon: make apple brighter and sharper.
• Cinnamon and cardamom: give a warm, apple-pie spice.
• Pear and peach: build a fuller orchard-fruit effect.
• Magnolia and peony: create a fresh, airy fruity floral.
• Cedarwood and ambroxan: make apple clean, modern and long-lasting.
• Vanilla and caramel: turn apple into a toffee-apple dessert.

Perfumes to try

Start fresh, then go warmer:

• Be Delicious by DKNY (2004): crisp green apple. The classic place to start.
• Nina by Nina Ricci (2006): a sweet, playful toffee apple with citrus.
• Pulp by Byredo: ripe red apple with fig and other fruits. Juicy and slightly boozy.
• Aventus by Creed (2010): apple and pineapple over smoky woods. A modern men's classic.
• Apple Brandy on the Rocks by Kilian: warm, boozy apple brandy with cardamom.

How to wear apple

• Green apple perfumes suit hot weather, daytime, the office and the gym.
• Baked, toffee or brandy apples feel cosy in autumn and winter.
• Apple top notes fade fast. If you love the opening, choose a perfume where apple sits on a musky or woody base so it lingers.
• Apple works for everyone. It is common in both women's and men's perfume.

Who will love it

Anyone who loves clean, fresh and cheerful scents. Apple is one of the easiest notes for beginners, because almost everyone already knows and likes it. If you think apple smells like shampoo, try a boozy apple brandy or a spiced apple. It may change your mind.