Appenzeller has been made for at least 700 years, according to Wikipedia. That might give a clue as to what herbs they use. It seems to me that the medieval style of herbing wines, etc. was to use as many aromatics as they could get hold of, for a mix like you might find in bitters or vermouth. I saw in one source that the must from white wine is used in one maker's recipe, while others use cider. This makes me wonder if the yeast is also producing some spicy elements. There is a German wheat beer called Franziskaner that has a very citrus and spice flavor, which it gets from the yeast alone. Perhaps the local cider yeast has character like that.