Jeffrey Pine: A Life Long Love of Vanilla

I grew up in a small mountain town in Southern California that had Jeffrey pines growing every where. Ponderosa pines actually smell like vanilla, which makes them unique and worth seeking out and sniffing.  It’s not as if the mountain air smells like a cake baking in the oven.  It’s a spicy vanilla combined with the astringent sap and resinous pine.  The ravine creek across from my house added a cool, earthy scent.    

Well into adulthood, I do still love the scent of vanilla.  It’s been a life long affair, my affection for vanilla. Splitting vanilla bean pods during culinary school was on of my favorite tasks, their insides thick with fragrant paste.  I love the smell of bourbon and whiskey more than I like drinking it; you can smell the rich malty vanilla drifting off the glass.  Vanilla is the comforts and security of home.

I don’t get up to the mountains as often as I’d like and I haven’t been home for nearly 10 years.  As a substitute, I am always seeking out the best vanilla scents to put some comfort in my home. Diptyque Vanille candle is the closest I’ve gotten to replicating mountain vanilla air and is my favorite vanilla scented candle.  The vanilla is combined with smoke and leather, adding more warmth and some depth to the scent of the candle.  Vanille has excellent throw, whether it is lit or not.  I have an old Vanille that I finished sitting in my pantry; I can’t bare to part with the sliver of wax that is left.  Nearly a year later, when I open my pantry, I get a subtle hint of vanilla.  This is a lovely candle to light when the weather cools down and you are spending cold nights at home, snuggled under a blanket.  It also reminds me of my beloved Dipyque Eau Duelle perfume, my favorite fragrance to wear in the Autumn and Winter.

My plan this year is to burn Vanille and a pine scented candle together and try to get the complete effect of mountain air.  I’ve got my eye on the Holiday candle from Harlem Candle Co, Diptyque Opopanax, Bois Cire and their holiday candle scented like pine are on my list to try burning with the Vanille candle.  I shall report back on my experiments!