One of the great tragedies of society’s insistence on applying gender to products is that relatively few men embrace the scented candle. It’s the ultimate mood-setter. A source of firelight for those without fireplaces. A thing that can make a room redolent of pine and leather and tobacco thanks to nothing more than some wax, a wick and a match.
What’s manlier than that?
Well … whiskey candles. More specifically, candle holders that once depleted can be cleaned, washed, then used as tumblers for your favorite spirits.
Now, not every glass in the scented candle section of your local home goods store will work. You wouldn’t go sipping Glenlivet out of a Glade.
Below, you’ll find four companies doing the candle-to-cocktail thing right — with recommendations from your standard birch bark scent to a dry martini aroma with a recipe card for later. Each should offer instructions on how to clean out the glass, but Ranger Station has a step-by-step guide online if you misplace it.
Ranger Station
Despite having two wicks, which help keep an even burn through the soy-wax candle’s entire life, this’ll last 40 hours. The 11-oz. candles come with a matchbook and cocktail recipe card.
Our favorites: Leather + Pine | Birch Bark | Tobacco + Musk | Charcoal
Manready Mercantile
Now dealing in everything from basic T-shirts to leather goods, Manready’s founder T. S. Weaver began the business by crafting candles out of soy wax and essential oils on his stove. This foundational product is still selling today thanks to intriguing aromatic blends.
Our favorites: Cedar + Sage | Juniper + Grapefruit | Frankincense + Orange | Bergamot + Teak
Askov Finlayson
Minnesota’s premier menswear store partnered with Marvel Bar, an adjacent cocktail den in Minneapolis, to create candle versions of their most popular drinks. Recipes included.
Our favorites: Old Fashioned | Dry Martini | Oliveto
Brooklyn Candle Studio
While this Brooklyn, NY company deals in everything from tealights to Mason jars, their tumbler versions offer classic scents (stock up on the Christmas editions) and some extra incentives (10% of proceeds from Love Potion #9 go to the ACLU).
Our favorites: Love Potion #9 | Christmas Cheer | Christmas Tree
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