AP Candles

Seven Scents. One Candle Maker.

The AP Candles are made in the USA in collaboration with Northern Lights, a candlemaker with more than 45 years in the trade. The seven scents in the lineup take their names from the drink cabinet: Whiskey & Tobacco, Dark Rum & Oak, Bourbon & Spice, Absinthe & Black Fig, Blackberry Brandy, Whiskey Reserve, and Finger Lakes Merlot. Each one ships in a colored glass jar sized to the scent's character: amber for the whiskey, ink-green for the absinthe, cobalt for the blackberry, and burgundy for the merlot, all sealed with a natural cork lid and labeled with AP's mark.

Built to Burn

Each candle is 5oz (141g) and rated for up to 35 hours of burn time on a single cotton wick. The wick is natural cotton, which burns clean and consistently without the sooting or flaring that comes from synthetic cores. The glass jars are the reusable kind — straight-sided with a wide enough mouth to do something useful with once the wax is gone, as at least one reviewer has already noted.

The fragrance load is 10%, which sits at the higher end of the range for candles in this size class and means the scent throw is genuine rather than suggestive. The Whiskey & Tobacco fragrance is built from Kentucky whiskey, leafy tobacco, ginger, and crushed tonka bean. The other six scents follow the same approach: specific enough to be interesting, balanced enough to work in a room rather than just a marketing description.

For the Desk, the Shelf, or the Other Person

These candles find buyers in two ways. The first is the person who wants a candle that smells like something other than lavender or clean linen — specifically, something in the whiskey-oak-tobacco corner of the fragrance world where most mainstream candle brands don't spend much time.

The second is the gift buyer who needs something under $20 that looks considered and ships easily. The colored glass jars and AP label photograph well, the scents are distinct enough to feel like an actual choice was made, and the price leaves room to buy more than one. Several reviewers have noted buying multiple scents together. The bundle pricing on the product page exists for good reason.

Short and Sweet

• Made in the USA in partnership with Northern Lights (est. 1978)
• 5oz / 141g per candle
• Burns up to 35 hours
• Natural cotton wick
• 10% fragrance load
• Natural cork lid, reusable colored glass jar
• Available in 7 scents: Whiskey & Tobacco, Dark Rum & Oak, Bourbon & Spice, Absinthe & Black Fig, Blackberry Brandy, Whiskey Reserve, Finger Lakes Merlot