Hello, and welcome in to the latest edition of Yankee Candle Reviews here on SoBros Network. I will be your host – the Fragrance Aficionado of SoBros Network, also the EIC, Stoney Keeley. My passion for Yankee Candle began in 2006, when I strolled into the location in Providence Marketplace in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. I picked up a jar of Autumn Woods, and found it captured the essence of the season perfectly. I’ve been hooked in this…well, you could even call it ‘romantic…’ relationship with Yankee Candle ever since. Today, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on what many believe to be a Christmas candle even though I’m saying otherwise, Balsam and Cedar.
This time of year is always a tricky one. They don’t give you a manual on how to handle January and February when you become a card-carrying Yankee Candle fan – that’s for sure. The fall and Christmas seasons are behind us. It’s too early for the floral fragrances of spring and the fresh and fruity smells of summer. It’s a veritable no man’s land of candle-burning. That’s why we have to get a little bit creative. Thankfully, it’s not a long stretch of time – you just have to get through that post-holiday slump and Valentine’s Day before Fresh Cut Roses starts to make a whole lot of sense.
In the context, there are three candles I go to this time of year – Hot Buttered Rum, Sparkling Snow, and Balsam and Cedar. You might think these are Christmas candles, and while I would say you can absolutely burn them at Christmas time and get away with it without the Yankee police coming for you, I would argue that they are each missing that defining spice profile that makes a Christmas candle a Christmas candle.
That lends itself perfectly to burning these in the cold winter months without going “too holiday” too far into the new year. Hot Buttered Rum is incredibly hard to find – I desperately wish they’d bring it back. I’d consider chopping my own pinky off to get one…not to be too graphic or anything. But, that’s why I like Balsam and Cedar so much at this time of the year – it just smells like straight tree. Nothing more, nothing less. Smelling Balsam and Cedar is like riding through the forest, with eight feet of snow on the ground, in The Hateful Eight. No holiday spice. No fluff. Just tree.
Recommended burning: On a crisp, wintry night – snow is gently falling and blanketing the ground outside yonder window. Your room is lit only by the candlelight, and with the contrast of the white snow on the ground, you can make out the shape of two grown, live deer as they make their beds at the edge of your backyard. In this moment, you are one with nature.
YANKEE CANDLE REVIEWS
- Autumn Leaves
- Cliffside Sunrise
- Farmer’s Market
- Haunted Hayride
- Lucky Shamrock
- Meadow Showers
- Midsummer’s Night
- Moonlit Cove
- Singing Carols
- Summer Storm
- Sun and Sand
- Woodland Road Trip
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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