From the Archives: Cabin Candlery Review

Cabin Candlery boasts highly condensed dyes and no plastic additives when coloring their candles, and it shows. The coloring of these candles really stood out. The hues were deep and vibrant. They looked almost like wood stains, if that makes any sense. I noticed the richness of the colors immediately and was not surprised to learn that they do indeed pay particular attention to that detail when creating these candles. I’ve no doubt these natural dyes enhanced the burn quality, but I’ll get into those details a little later.

For those who prefer a clean jar look, I was able to slowly peel the label off cleanly. The bottoms of the jars have got all of the pertinent burning information on them. I liked the look of these jars just the way they were presented, so I actually stuck my label back on.

The votives are a standard 2 ounce size and the tea lights are poured into clear plastic tea light cups. I saw and smelled no difference in the wax, scent, or color between the variety of products I tried. They all seemed to be cut from the same cloth… or more accurately, poured from the same pot.

My candles were all appropriately colored to match their scent. Patchouli was black, Black Cherry was a dark maroon and Irish Cream was a medium tan color. Each candle was single wicked.

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A natural calming scent used to create a harmonious flow of emotional energy.

I wanted to try Cabin Candlery’s patchouli scent in particular because most of their candle scents are custom blended exclusively. That got me curious about their take on this scent. I’ve found that patchouli scents run the gambit from sweet to pungent. It is one of those scents that can vary considerably between candle brands. Just as the scent varies, so does my affinity for it. I tend to favor the more pungent, spicy versions of patchouli… but even then, it’s got to be just the right balance of bitter and sweet. Too much in either direction sends me running, but when it’s right, it’s right on, man.

This patchouli did deliver that herbal, bittersweet fragrance that I was looking for. It was somewhat sweet…definitely heady and thick, but with a nice, bitter bite to it. The candle itself needed a jar topper to really get going. I needed to insulate that heat in the beginning to get a complete melt pool. Once it got going, the scent wafted around the room nicely. I liked this relaxing, mellow scent best in the evenings. It had a dreaminess that fit well with the setting sun.

People often associate patchouli scents with the 1960’s, and although I was just a baby in the late 60’s, Cabin Candlery’s patchouli makes it easy to imagine what that era must have been like… or at least smelled like. Everything I’ve ever read or seen about that unique decade gives me the impression of herbal peacefulness… if you catch my drift… and patchouli has that heady, incense-like quality, that makes me think of leather fringe jackets, and flowers in my hair. If only I had a time machine… first stop would be Max Yeager’s Farm, New York, Summer, 1969.

A rich, ripe aroma of sweet black cherries.

Why settle for just a cherry scent when you can have a black cherry scent? What’s the difference? Well, what I was looking for with this scent was a deeper, more tart cherry scent… less sweet, no bakery, pure dark ripe cherry. What I got was…. just that! A rich, deep, true cherry. It had some sweetness, to be sure, but it wasn’t like a dessert or bakery scent. This scent was made for the fruity scent purist… All cherry and no pie, baby!

This candle had a decent throw. It filled my… hallway? Yes, hallway. I ran out of rooms to adorn with candles so I recently acquired a new cabinet for the end of my hall just so I could have yet another space in which to enjoy scent. It’s the perfect candle burning spot, by the way. How could I have overlooked this hallway for so long? It’s ideal for sending fragrance throughout the house… but I’m getting off track. Back to this fruity Black Cherry candle.

It scented my hallway well, yet never chased me out of the house. It was noticeable whenever I walked from room to room, like a surprise treat while I puttered around the house.

A blend of rich, creamy milk, chocolate, and a hint of whiskey

Ah, a touch of the Irish for me. I love Irish cream… once in a while I’ll add a drop or two to my coffee, or sip a sweet creamy after dinner cocktail. It’s just enough to satisfy that sweet tooth without having a big dessert. I wondered if having a candle scented in Irish Cream would satisfy as much as the drink, and in turn curb that craving for dessert. Is it asking too much for a candle scent to satisfy a craving for a sweet dessert? In a word, yes…it IS asking too much… I mean, really, my experiment was destined to fail from the very beginning.

That’s not to say this candle scent wasn’t good… it surely was… just not a reasonable stand-in for an actual dessert, or a chilled sip of real Irish Cream liquor. What the candle scent did do was make me crave real Irish Cream something fierce and I ended up sipping a glass while I enjoyed part of the candle.

Cabin Candlery’s Irish Cream Candle smelled creamy and sweet, almost like a brulee. I couldn’t detect much chocolate or whiskey as separate notes listed in the description. I thought there may actually have been some buttery vanilla in it. I would like to have smelled the whiskey a bit more prominently. As good as the candle smelled, it didn’t jump out at me as smelling exactly like Irish Cream. If I didn’t know the scent name beforehand, I doubt if I could have guessed it just by sense of smell.

The candle scent carried well throughout my kitchen. It was noticeable without being overbearing. Even though I smelled more of a brulee than an Irish Cream, I still enjoyed this scent quite a bit.

My burn experience with Cabin Candlery’s jars was very similar to my candle burning experience with Yankee Candles. The wax was a similar density, as most paraffin wax is, and these candles required the same kind of care to get the best results. As the candles got further into the burn, less maintenance was required. As the wax level and wick flame moved down into the jar, I no longer needed the jar topper to get a nice edge to edge melt pool.