It's not often I purchase Yankee Candle jars, preferring to stick to the wax tarts which are not only cheaper but also enable me to swap and change my fragrance more easily than when I have a jar on the go. One exception however (well, there are three fragrances I'll buy in jar format and this is one of them) is this gorgeously spicy Apple Cider, a candle I received as a Christmas present and have just finished after nine months of burning it in fits and starts. Mine is (was) the Medium Jar which has an estimated burn time if 65 - 90 hours (huge variation there) and costs in the region of £15.

The jar has the traditional Yankee Candle shaping with attractive embossed glass lid, I love the wine-red colour of the wax as it's so warm and festive looking - as the wax melts it forms a glossy deep red pool which looks gorgeous as the flame dances across it. The label is nicely done, if a little 1970s in my opinion, with a glass of a reddish alcohol (apple cider?) and cinnamon sticks - it emphasises the Christmassy feel for me, which I suppose was Yankee Candles intention.

The wick, as ever, was ridiculously long when the candle was new, it took a few burnings before the wick shrunk down of it's own accord and I found myself having to trim it daily before it got to this point. This is a bit of a nuisance, but I was relieved that the overly long wicks didn't char and break up into the wax as happened with another jar candle I used this year. When the wick length regulated itself I noticed it burned beautifully for the lifetime of the candle, providing a large strong flame which had a beautiful glow and heated the wax to release the fragrance perfectly.

And the fragrance is, in my opinion, wonderful. First of all you need to get your brain away from the name - despite the Apple Cider moniker, this candle has no apple fragrance. It's a spicy candle, not a fruity one and gives my house a rich warming fragrance rather than the lighter notes you might be expecting when thinking of apple-y scents. It smells of mulled wine or other warm 'toddy', don't worry as it doesn't smell of hot cider (I'd rather cut my nose off than fill my house with that particularly foul smell) but there's definitely the hint of something alcoholic lurking under the spices. My only disappointment about this candle is the strength of the cinnamon, which is surprisingly vague considering it was the overriding scent when I sniffed the unlit candle. I can detect nutmeg to a point, but this is also much fainter than I'd like and doesn't come to the fore of the fragrance as it should - the cloves have no such issues and are highly apparent in the perfume of Apple Cider, giving it a slightly more bitter edge than if then had been excluded.

The spices do mingle nicely and this is great for a spice lover such as myself, bit it would be nice if the different spices were a bit more separate from one another for a bit of variety in the fragrance. It's quite 'flat' you see, I admit it's a stunning and wonderful tart to burn but there seems to be no sparkle to it as it smells exactly the same through it's burntime with nothing really pushing through to add any interesting developments. It's *there* as Apple Cider, and *there* it remains.

Yankee Candle recommend you burn their jar candles for at least three hours to minimise the chance of dry waxy deposits on the sides of the glass. This is actually a perfect burning period for Apple Cider as the fragrance comes through quickly after lighting and builds in the room for the duration of the burn, after blowing the candle out it lingers for a good hour before disappearing and even then leaves at least the downstairs of my house smelling fresh and mildly fragranced. Unfortunately the aroma doesn't drift well and despite the open plan layout of my house it can't seem to manage the job of floating up the stairs to the bedrooms - obviously if I want the fragrance upstairs I'll simply move the candle up there for an hour, but this always seems a bit of a chore when I consider the fact that I have small tarts which will fill the entire house yet this bigger candle struggles.

I think the main source of my disappointment (and it's mild disappointment - I reiterate, I love this fragrance) is the fact that I lost my Yankee Candle virginity with Pomegranate Cider, which is a stronger and headier version of this one. I went into the whole APPLE Cider experience expecting it to be identical to the Pomegranate one, mainly because the two smell so alike in their solid form. This one is like the younger sister, more feminine (in a spicy kinda way) and certainly not so 'look at meeeee'.

I couldn't tell you how many hours I got from the candle as I've been burning it semi-regularly since Boxing Day 2011. I'd guesstimate it lasts for longer than the lower figure (65 hours) but doubt it would have reached 90 hours either as based on three hour burning times I'm pretty sure I haven't lit it thirty times. I'm sure I'll buy it again at some point; I must admit it's not one I'll rush out to replace simply because there are other fragrances I like equally or more, but it's lovely enough to warrant an addition to my shopping basket next time I have a tart buying spree.