There’s nothing like a winter’s night (or dim afternoon) with flickering candles burning inside dark rooms. Add a rainstorm, pot of strong Assam tea or Mexican hot chocolate, a gingerbread cake right out of the oven, stacks of thick European design, gardening and fashion magazines, some seed catalogs, and cookbooks to read…and I’m set for hours of light-hearted enjoyment (before the denouement: a nap).

I’d like to introduce you to some candles I’ve discovered over the last several months; all of them have great, intense aromas.

Diptyque Noisetier: hazelnut, clove, cedar, patchouli, vetiver

Noisetier invites a walk on the shady land, fertile and dry. A spicy, woody fragrance warmed by a smoky touch. — Diptyque

Like many recent men’s perfumes, this candle mixes standard fragrance notes with some gourmand nuts — this time the nutty element is hazelnut…

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