Best Winter Candle Scents, from Balsam to Vanilla

Fresh Balsam

Fresh-cut fir and balsam with cedar underneath and a cool, clean lift of eucalyptus. It smells like the day you bring the tree home. The notes are fir, balsam and cedar. It comes in the 4 oz amber jar, 9 oz amber jar, 11 oz glass tumbler and 16 oz glass jar, from $16. Shop Fresh Balsam.

Comfort Spice

Cinnamon and brown sugar with buttery praline, a little vanilla, and a bright bit of lemon so it never gets heavy. The best bakery you know, the morning it opens. The notes are cinnamon, brown sugar and praline. It comes in the 4 oz amber jar, 9 oz amber jar, 11 oz glass tumbler and 16 oz glass jar, from $16. Shop Comfort Spice.

Cinnamon & Vanilla

Warm cinnamon and clove folded into cream and sweet vanilla. The smell of something baking, with nothing to wash up afterwards. The notes are cinnamon, cream and vanilla. It comes in the 9 oz amber jar, from $24. Shop Cinnamon & Vanilla.

Vanilla Bean

Vanilla first, then something deeper: a little tonka and a touch of cocoa keep it warm and grown-up instead of sugary. The easiest one in the collection to love. The notes are vanilla bean, tonka and cocoa. It comes in the 4 oz amber jar, 9 oz amber jar, 11 oz glass tumbler and 16 oz glass jar, from $16. Shop Vanilla Bean.

White Sage & Lavender

Herbal and steady: lavender and white sage with chamomile and rosemary, grounded by cedar and sandalwood. For quiet evenings and clear heads. The notes are lavender, white sage and cedar. It comes in the 9 oz amber jar, from $24. Shop White Sage & Lavender.

Which to burn when

December: Fresh Balsam, for the weeks the tree is up, or instead of one.
Holiday baking days: Comfort Spice.
Snowed-in weekends: Cinnamon & Vanilla.
January: Vanilla Bean, once the holidays are packed away.
Long February evenings: White Sage & Lavender.

Sizes for winter

Winter is when candles get burned every evening, so bigger sizes go further. The 16 oz glass jar burns for about 60–80 hours. Giving one as a gift? See the Christmas candle gift guide for the date to order by.