This is such a tricky time of year for scentheads like me. What are we to burn? Personally, I’m tired of the fresh and fruity beachy fragrances that permeate the summer. But, it’s also too early for the pumpkin stuff. What are we to do? Fret not, Yankee Candle fans. I have you covered with this top 10 list of my favorite transitional fragrances between summer and fall, a period I’ve dubbed “late summer.” Enjoy!
Yankee Candle’s Best Scents for Late Summer
10. Grapevine & Oak – Sometimes, I don’t think y’all understand how good Yankee Candle’s wine fragrances are. Of course, there’s Vineyard and Mulled Wine, which you’ll read about later on in this list. But, there’s also Napa Valley Sun and Napa Valley Harvest that are combining to make this one of the most slept-on genres of Yankee Candle out there. What I love most about Grapevine & Oak is that it takes that grape profile, and adds a little bit of fresh Earthy-ness to it.
9. Smoked Vanilla & Cashmere – It’s another of these fragrances that plays well at just about any time of the year, but it’s nice in late summer because the cashmere and vanilla give it a sweet freshness, while the smoky notes remind you of the bonfires you’ll have come fall.
8. Silver Birch – Silver Birch was tailor made for that sweet spot in between late summer and early fall. It has just enough ‘fall’ in it to make you look forward to the change in seasons, but there’s still enough ‘fresh’ in it to remind you of dying trees in the forest. It’s very Earthy and free. One of my favorite transitional candles.
7. Mountain Lodge – A surprisingly versatile fragrance, Mountain Lodge can fit just about anywhere on the calendar and that’s part of the reason I love it so much. You can burn it in the summer time to bring back memories of heading to the cabins of the Smoky Mountains on vacation. Or, you can burn it in the fall for it’s musky scent. It’s one of those rare “it doesn’t really matter when you burn it” candles for me.
6. Maple Pancakes – Are you into torture? Specifically speaking, do you love to torture your own family? Well, I have just the candle for you – Maple Pancakes. Nothing will inflict mental anguish on folks quite like waking up early on a Saturday morning, burning this candle, and having everyone in the house think they’re waking up to pancakes, only to discover that it’s just a candle. That’s how accurate this one is.
5. Evening Air – I’m going to be honest with you guys, Evening Air used to be a top 10 candle for me back in the day. It’s a great late summer/early fall fragrance. But, one day, when I was still living at home, my dad walked into the room and said it smelled like pencil shavings and it just completely wrecked me. I haven’t been able to smell it the same since. Nonetheless, I loved it for how outdoorsy it smelled while also sneaking in hints of a cool evening breeze into it.
4. Vineyard – Be still, my beating heart. A deep purple candle that smells just like a cup of wine? AH! It is orgasmic, and best of all, it’s not beholden to one season. You can burn Vineyard at any point on the calendar, and it will play well. It’s like a relaxing afternoon spent bathing in the sunlight at your favorite vineyard.
3. Mango Peach Salsa – Two of the best fruit fragrances out there, mango and peach, make sweet sweet beautiful love in this candle, and I dare say it is my favorite fruit fragrance outside of any of the fall/holiday candles. Shocking, I know…but I stand by it.
2. Amber Glow – Soft, rich, and Earthy, Amber Glow is among my quintessential transition candles from summer to fall. It has ample amount of freshness, but it also has some rich rocky tones in it that make it feel closer to an Earthy fall candle than a fresh-air summer candle. If you want to say it smells like a golden hour sunset, well then who the hell am I to stop you?
1. Lakeside Birch – I rather enjoy the woodsy, wet fragrances in late summer when the tropical vibes of the season have worn off and I’m beginning to look forward to fall. That’s exactly what I get with Lakeside Birch. It brings back memories of the swampy frisbee golf course in Smyrna, Tennessee.
Check out the Yankee Candle archives here on SoBros Network for my extensive backlog of Yankee Candle reviews! Also, be sure to check out my comprehensive list of the top 100 Yankee Candle fragrances of all time. I worked on that thing for forever, so any read is appreciated, thank you. That is all.
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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