CANDLE SPOTLIGHT: Bourbon Sea Salt Caramel *BF PICK*

Products: candle
Area used in: living room
Time Period: whenever

Description: Barrel-aged Bourbon, Soft Caramel, Coarse Sea Salt

So ladies and gents, this is a special edition of "CANDLE SPOTLIGHT" as this is a candle my bf specifically sought and bought.

My bf is OBSESSED with anything salted caramel; whether it's a coffee drink or ice cream or even home fragrance, he goes nuts for it. That said, when he spotted this at our last trip to WB, he was drawn to it like a moth to a flame and immediately put it in his basket to buy. As you already know, I despise most caramel scents and avoid them like the plague with very few exceptions so I grimaced when I saw him huff it with reckless abandon and then place it his basket. Fast forward to about a week or so again, we're having a relaxing weekend at home and we decided to give this sucker a burn. The bf was absolutely loving it, me..not so much.

So burn-wise, this candle started out a little on the iffy side. On the first initial burn, it took waaaaayyyyy too long to pool out and I thought for sure it was going to tunnel but it didn't. After a few hours, it finally pooled and it's be burning correctly ever since. The throw on this badboi is so friggin intense. Caramel in and of itself is never subtle and most scents with that note is like a sticky suckerpunch to the face and this scent is not the exception. The throw is incredible and sort of sits in the air like a heavy fog. Those who enjoy sweet/bakery/caramel well certainly enjoy such an all encompassing scent but for me, it makes feel sticky and want to take a bath. And it lingers in the air for hhoooouuuurrrs, typical of caramel scents; I burned it one night, blew it out and went to bed and had to open the window the next morning cuz I could still smell it in the air.

There's some contention online as this scent smells familiar and must be a repackage of a past scent. Most say that this is a straightup dupe of Hot Buttered Barf..I mean Rum because both are caramel scents with dark sweet alcoholic note in the background. For a hot second, I thought these folks were right...until I burned it; I'm 90% sure this isn't HBR. Some suggested it might be Bourbon Butterscotch from fall 2014's Artisan collection but I don't think it's that either. I personally thought it Toffee Glazed Popcorn from fall 2012; I deferred to a candle buddy who had one in his collection and let me know that it wasn't that either. My final opinion is that while that may smell familiar, I don't think this is a repackage of anything years past.

So scent-wise, you do get warm, overwhelmingly sweet, gloopy, ooey-gooey salted caramel. And in the background there is an aged woody brown liquor note that adds a darkness to the blend and intensifies the sweetness. Lastly...and I thought I was imagining things but other candle buddies of mine admitted that they smelled it too..I smell almonds/amaretto but I dunno if there is an actual almond note or if its the accord that's replicated the "bourbon" playing against the caramel. Whatever the case is, it's strange but I don't mind it.

In conclusion, I don't really understand why this scent exists or more importantly, why BBW felt the need to throw it into the Mixed Materials collection..what is mixed? If they threw in a wood note or something musky like leather or cashmere or suede ie Havana/Havana Heat/Ski Den, that would make sense. Couldn't BBW have waited and release this in the fall? Anyhoo, this scent is sooooo out of my wheelhouse and had my bf not picked it up, I wouldn't have even thought about trying it. It's not a bad scent and bakery/caramel lovers  will enjoy it, but this scent is just not for me. But the bf is happy with it so that's all that matters.