Turkey & Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce and Sweet Potato Pie – Yankee Candle

by Andrea Haskins

Introduction to my Thanksgiving candle review:

It’s almost that time for the Thanksgiving holidays. And while we gather around to celebrate and enjoy being with family, it’s also a good time to settle in with a good candle or two. They provide ambiance and can provide some pleasant scents to help spur on the festivities. Yankee Candle has come out with a 2013 Thanksgiving Collection that they hope will fit the bill…a trio of candles to mimic a traditional Thanksgiving dinner: Turkey & Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce, and Sweet Potato Pie. Call me for dinner! I was eager to try all three scents in this collection to see if they were worth a seat at our Thanksgiving table.

What did the Thanksgiving Collection candles look like?

Turkey & Stuffing

All three of these candles were the typical large apothecary style jars from with single wicks. The wax of Turkey & Stuffing was a caramel brown color. The label was mouthwatering as it showed a
huge cooked turkey on a platter with sides of cornbread dressing and gravy. Mmmmm!

Cranberry Sauce

The candle wax in this jar was a deep red color. The label showed a “roll” of cranberry sauce on a dish, partially sliced. There was a sprig of a green garnish on the side.

Sweet Potato Pie

This wax was a deep orangish brown, reminiscent of a lovely sweet potato pie. The label showcased one of those pies, topped with a generous layer of marshmallows and brown sugar. Uh, yum!!!

What did the Thanksgiving Collection candles smell like?

Turkey & Stuffing

This candle gave a sense of sage and turkey broth on cold sniff. I wasn’t quite sure I’d like this one. Here’s what the website has to say about this scent:

“A mouth-watering holiday tradition . . . plump, butter-basted turkey and savory stuffing filled with celery, carrots, and herbs.”

I lit this candle in a medium-sized room and came back a couple of hours later (these are sloooow-burning candles!). By that time, a good wax melt pool had formed and I was able to appreciate the full scent: traditional Thanksgiving turkey and dressing! Seriously, this was Thanksgiving dinner in a jar! I could smell the turkey and some bready cornbread stuffing and lots of sage. It was uncanny! It was also a very mild scent throw, though. I suppose that was good because, while I didn’t dislike the scent, I’m not sure it would have been so pleasant to the nose if it were stronger.

Cranberry Sauce

Now it was time to dive into Cranberry Sauce to give it a try. Here’s the scent description from the website:

“It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without the classic, tangy sweet goodness of jellied cranberry sauce.”

It smelled just like a can of cranberry sauce as you open up the lid ”“ fresh and tart and juicy. I don’t even eat cranberry sauce, but this cold sniff was yummy. I also left this candle in a medium-sized room for a couple of hours before coming back to smell it. This candle was stronger than Turkey & Stuffing and it smelled wonderful! It was a tart cranberry scent but it was also slightly sweet, which was the perfect mix. I don’t care for single-note cranberry scents as they seem to be a bit sour to me, but this jellied cranberry scent was perfect. The candle strength was moderately strong – much better than Turkey & Stuffing.

Sweet Potato Pie

Saving the best for last (dessert!), I took a big whiff of Sweet Potato Pie. It smelled awesome! The cold sniff was so rich and creamy, it was to die for! I think I gained a few pounds just sniffing the jar. Here’s the website description for Sweet Potato Pie:

“A crave-worthy delight . . . yummy mashed sweet potato filling baked with nutmeg and vanilla.”

Now I’m a Southern gal and we find sweet potato pies adorning our Thanksgiving tables quite often…more-so than pumpkin pies. So I consider myself a sweet potato pie expert, if you will. Trust me when I say this… scent…. was… AWESOME! It was a heavy scent and it filled a medium-sized room with delicious creamy, sweet potatoes and brown sugar. Oh my goodness! The spices were well mixed in with a rich vanilla and the entire combo made me crave pie! This is not a sticky-sweet bakery scent, more heavy and rich. And yummy. Did I mention yummy? The only thing I thought was missing was that buttery crust, but overall this was a great scent. The scent throw on this baby was strong.

Turkey & Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce, and Sweet Potato Pie

After burning each of these separately, I decided to try them all together. The verdict? Sweet Potato Pie stole the show. I could smell a bit of the other scents, but Sweet Potato Pie was so much stronger that really that’s all I smelled burning. And truthfully, that was A-OK with me.

How did my candles burn?

All three candles burn just fine. These are slooooow burning candles (which is great, considering the price tag). It took a couple of hours to get a full wax melt pool, but each provided a great pool and burned without difficulty. I only had very small amounts of wax rims left in the jars. I did keep Illuma-Lids on each jar while burning. It seemed to keep the flames in check.

Closing to my review:

This was a fun collection to try. I have such a love-hate relationship with Yankee Candle, it isn’t funny. I have found the quality overall to not be the same as when I purchased candles years ago. But I keep trying (and trying and trying) and Yankee seems to always have something up its sleeves that I will enjoy. From this collection, it would be Sweet Potato Pie. Although the other scents were dead-on accurate and somewhat enjoyable, the scent throw and the mouth-watering goodness of Sweet Potato Pie makes it a repeat purchase for me. If you’re hankering for that Thanksgiving inner smell that only requires the flick of your lighter, give one of these candles a try. But take it from me… head straight for the pie!

Happy candle burning!

~ Andrea

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