Knecht Ruprecht

[Invidiana]

The snow-covered foliage of the Black Forest and the fruit and woods of apple and almond trees.

 

Knecht Ruprecht, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: this scent is a beautiful combination of glistening red winter fruits--not apple-dominant just because apple is the only fruit specified in the notes, but a balanced blend--swirled with chilly evergreens and a slight hint of sweet almond to finish it off. This scent definitely gets me all nostalgic about Christmas.

[Sinmara]

Cor blimey, what a pungent smell *irks* All I get is pungent smoke :/ doesn't work at all on my skin!

[DifferentDances]

Decant: Initial whiff reminds me of Tiger Balm. Humid ozone with a warm tingle and a hint of berries. (My brother says it smells like medicine)

Wet: Cypress, ozone, with a very quiet, underlying layer of something sweet and vaguely fruity.

Drydown: Musky almond-y woods, slight berries, touch of frost around the edges.

Dry: Medicinal, woody warmth.

 

My rating: 1/5

[Withjoy]

This scent is a complete surprise for me. I ordered a decant just out of curiosity. I must say, if I had a man I would slather him in this. Seriously. It's just yummy in a masculine sexy times way. I may order a bottle just to wear when I'm feeling a little *roar*. All of that said, it's not aggressive. It's "sit by a roaring fire and make out" sexy times, not "throw you over the hood of the car" sexy times. I hope that makes sense, because I can't think of another way to say it!

[NaiadOreiad]

I live in germany so I was pumped about this one!!

 

bottle: spices, wood, almonds, a breath of apples...

 

wet: THIS is the apple i have been waiting for my whole life. The almond is grounding, keeping the apple from becoming cloying. The woods set up a nice background and it smells atmospheric and christmassy without venturing into candle-land! YAY!

 

Dry: OMG so sexy.... this may be my favorite yule ever. Makes me want to get drunk on mulled wine and have a roll with my man in some furs in front of a fireplace after skiing all day. I can't stop sniffing my arm

[fairestrocza]

The first time I tried this, it started out with a blast of candied cranberry, with another sharp red scent. The second time I tried it, the cranberry was missing, and I got a blast of vetiver initially. There is a woody note that peeks out for a moment, and some ozone. Not a huge fan, though I can see how this would capture the season for some people.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Unexpectedly chalky. It seems to be the better of the lab’s snow accords with strong fruit as second strongest. The woods and nuts blend well with the snow note, supporting it. I like the way the snow and apples contrast to create a crisp, chilly impression. The almond is smoothing things out, mostly. Wet: Way more almond on my skin to the point of being almond dominant with snow as second. Apple and woods are third and forth respectively. I’m surprised there is no pine here, as it smells like there is a scouch, maybe as part of the snow accord. Dry: Mostly snow with a bit of wood.

[milo]

Lot's of evergreen from start to finish. Kind of menthol-lke, but that gradually fades too. Ends up being a predominantly masculine musky evergreen. Not for me, but I'd like to smell it on a guy.

[Aviatrix]

This starts out with a strong snow note; slightly piney and minty, with a touch of ozone. It's the classical Lab snow note, and I quite like it. It's paired up with ripe fruits and almond, but they stay in the background, sweetening up the scent.

After a while the snow fades somewhat, and the whole blend becomes warmer and sweeter. It also becomes rather faint.

 

I will give this one a few more tests before deciding what to do with my bottle. It's quite nice, but also rather faint...

[Soupy Twist]

Sourish pine in the bottle. Goes on as a cold pine, which gets a little dusty as it dries — very much "pines in winter." The edge sweetens a little after an hour, but I'm not getting any of the fruit trees.

[Casablanca]

2018

On the wand, I catch mostly a dry, nutty almond, and just hints of apple, woods, and cold.

 

Fresh on my skin... huh. Sweet almond syrup poured over a soft, snow-dusted pine. The apple hint has wandered off into the woods, and the almond smells much sweeter on my skin than it did on the wand. 

 

As this dries, something in it comes out as a bit vanillic and dusty. Then I start to notice berries, maybe cranberries, but they are soft, hidden among some vague, smoky or dusty pines.

 

This one needs to settle more, but it might not work right on my skin.

[doomsday_disco]

2018 version.

 

Knecht Ruprecht is strong on the apple, almond, and snow in the vial, and that is also the case on my skin. It takes over an hour before any actual tree decides to make its presence known on me, and at that point, it is mostly waxy red apple and snow, as the almond burns off after a while. After several hours, the foliage of the Black Forest becomes more prominent, making this an apple and evergreen scent with some snow.

 

I am really glad that I got to try this, and I like it enough to keep my decant. I am not sure it's something I need more of, though... I wish the trees had come out to play sooner.

[Janis]

(2019 version)

Fruit punch! this is a very red, blended fruit punch with a hint of syrupy sweet almond. It doesn't read apple to me at all, at least no more prominently than the other red fruits and berries present in this punch. The forest is more of a backdrop in which the bowl of fruit punch has been placed. Knecht Ruprecht is pure fruit punch, fading into soft and powdery fir trees a couple hours later.

 

I love the Lab's almond and apple notes, but this was unfortunately a miss - they both get lost in the swirl of fruit punch. I think it would make a nice holiday room scent, but as a perfume? it's not for me.

[samanare]

I get mostly frosted evergreens: cold, iced pine needles. There is a hint of apple that I can pick out when first applied, but goes away as it wears. I can't quite pick out almond. Overall, a very pretty, cold pine forest smell.

[ajansuz]

2019 version:

 

In the bottle: Fir trees, snow, an underlying sweetness that's a touch fruity but hard to read as any particular kind of fruit for me.

 

Wet: Strong, strong Christmas trees and apples. It's nice, but it's also a punch in the nostrils. I am shocked at how strongly this smells like a freshly cut fir tree.

 

Dry: It's really lovely. The evergreen tames down and shares the stage with apple and something a bit soft and holiday cookie-like without being actually straight up foodie. Dry on me this is a skin scent. I'm enjoying wearing it in late July. It feels like a welcome, refreshing breath of winter. There's also just a hint of menthol, but not in an unpleasant, medicinal way. There's also something a touch waxy like myrtle. Weird? But not bad. I like this scent a lot. It's not as awesome as The Most Magnificent Christmas Tree, but it's up there.