We’re flipping the calendar to November and the holidays are right around the corner. Hell, if you’re like me, you may already be lighting up some of those Christmas candles! But, for all of its splendor, the holiday season can also be a bit of a predictable slate of scents – cinnamon, sugar cookies, and Christmas trees galore. For a creative spirit that craves real variety in life, that can be a tad boring. So, with that in mind, I decided to flip through the archives and find some of my favorite Yankee Candle scents that feel a little more outside-the-box when it comes to the holidays. Some of these, you may still be able to find in stores. Others, you might have to fire up the old eBay machine to get ’em. Regardless, throw a changeup this holiday season with this list!
Outside the Box Yankee Candle Fragrances for the Holidays
Big Apple Christmas – I’ve been to New York City at Christmastime and this is most definitely NOT what that city smells like. But, I can appreciate the effort from Yankee Candle. It does have a distinct candied apple smell, which I love, but the added spices give it quite the festive touch.
Bubbly Pomegranate – Pomegranate is a winter fruit, but it deserves a little more respect than it’s given. Bubbly Pomegranate captures its essence nicely, but puts a nice fizzy touch on it reminiscent of a cocktail you’d suck down at a work holiday party before having to call your wife to come pick you up because you’ve had too many.
Cranberry Chutney – An underrated Christmastime fragrance. I don’t know if it was designed to be a Christmastime fragrance, but it definitely has that “sweet fruity spice” factor as I call it. I’ve also never made chutney, but judging by the chutney on the label of this candle, I really want to make some.
Holiday Bayberry – No sane person knows what a bayberry even is but it smells like Christmas and that’s all that fucking matters. It smells like plants and Christmas. That’s exactly what I look for in a Christmas candle that I don’t want to smell like cookies and cinnamon.
Holiday Cheer – I love a good holiday punch. Give me something spicy and festive, but if you add that refreshing fruity touch to it, I’m sucking it down like water. That’s the vibe I get from Holiday Cheer, and I can’t get enough of it.
London Christmas Tea – I’ve always said that the tea fragrance is something that Yankee Candle is totally underrated for. They’ve added a nice minty and sweet touch to it to create London Christmas Tea. I think this plays well as a winter candle, but firing it up at the holidays is no fragrance violation either.
Mulled Wine – I don’t know that there’s another Yankee Candle fragrance that warms the soul the way Mulled Wine does on a cold winter day. It’s like someone tipped over and poured a little Christmas into Vineyard. Plus, there’s a hint of clove in this one, and if you don’t know anything else about me, please know that I go hard in defense of the clove as the most criminally underrated spice in existence.
North Pole – The crisp sting of fresh snow and fresh winter air paired with the sweetness of a candy cane. I would imagine this is exactly what the Candy Cane Forest at the North Pole smells like, and I wouldn’t put it past the Yankee Candle team to have conjured the magic to get there and know what it smells like in person.
Red Berry and Cedar – It reminds me of the old cedar wardrobe my parents had when I was growing up…I can still smell that thing on an early Christmas morning to wake them up so we could open presents to this day. It’s a different type of holiday scent, but it’s underrated in the larger holiday candle conversation.
Singing Carols – I am a huge fan of the Christmas fragrance Silver Bells. You just can’t find it anymore. It’s been discontinued, and I don’t think it was ever popular enough to come back as a returning favorite. But, Singing Carols comes pretty damn close to it. It definitely has that “cold metal” smell to it, but there’s also a little spice…a little homey-ness to it…that gives it a nice traditional Christmas scent vibe to it.
Happy hunting out there, Yankee Squad, and of course, happy holidays!
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, second on Football & Other F Words, analyst for Stacking The Inbox, 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, the NFL Draft, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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