Yankee Candle Cranberry Chutney Scented Tealights > Reviews (1)

Never one to let a bargain pass me by and eager to try a Yankee fragrance in a format that was new to me I couldn't resist picking up a box of Cranberry Chutney tea lights when I saw them on offer in store at Clinton Cards for a little over £3.00. I've used scented tea lights before in a variety of Yankee fragrances and whilst they wouldn't normally be my first choice of format given the fact that I generally buy the wax tarts and sampler candles the saving against the usual price of these (often over £6.00 depending where you buy them from) meant that it cost very little for me to retry a fragrance I've had before. As I've mentioned in my past Yankee reviews I do tend to favour the sweet and fruity fragrances that Yankee produce and Cranberry Chutney appealed to me before when I'd melted it in tart form, I liked their blood-red colouring and the attractively designed box and thought these would make an ideal scent to have burning in my living room on a night time and as I have been burning these for a few nights now I thought it was time to share my opinions on what I thought of them.

For the money you get a box of 12 scented tea lights, each tea light sits in its own holder and they're about the same size as a ten pence piece and around half an inch in thickness. Yankee claim that they have around 4-5 hours worth of burning time per candle and that the essential oils and fragranced wax that make up their composition give off a consistent aroma throughout the lifespan of each candle. In my experience with Yankee's tea lights I've found that I need to burn at least 2 at a time to get a noticeable amount of aroma emanating from them and that's what I did with these. Placing 2 in a couple of holders and lighting the wicks it took around 10 - 15 minutes for the fragrance to become noticeable and I could immediately detect a warming, sweet berry aroma coming from the tea lights. I've had Cranberry Chutney before as a wax tart and whilst the strength of aroma of these tea lights wasn't as strong as I remembered it being in tart format the fragrance was exactly the same. Cranberry Chutney is quite a heady mix of different fragrances, it very 'jam-like' meaning that it has a sugary sweet edge which is then tempered down with a combination of different berry aromas. There are spicy elements in its composition which give it an added layer of interest and these sit nicely amongst the sweeter and fruity notes to make this a rounded fragrance suitable for any living space in the home.

Ideally this would be an Autumn/Winter fragrance as it definitely suits the colder months of the year when it's chilly outside and you want to create a warming and welcoming atmosphere indoors and I would certainly recommend this one to anyone who does like the sweeter or fruity fragrances that Yankee produce. In all honesty I did prefer this fragrance as a wax tart as I think it lends itself well to being melted for a longer period of time and the tea lights are perhaps a little on the feint side to be that noticeable once the initial flourish of fragrance has died down.

As mentioned in my opening paragraph though I'm not one to turn my back on a bargain and the £3.00 these cost to buy certainly made them exceptional value for money.

Would I recommend these tea lights at full price? perhaps not, the fragrance suits a more robust format and I think it's better as a wax tart in all honesty but the fragrance itself is a definite winner as far as I'm concerned. The tea lights themselves do last for the stated 5 hours but I did find that towards the latter end of their lifespan the fragrance had all but evaporated, the good thing about these though is that there's no mess involved, the holder the wax sits in is easily disposed of once the wax has burnt away and if you don't own a tart burner or a votive holder then these are ideal to dot around a living room or conservatory as they need very little attention. Obviously they have a naked flame so common sense should tell you where they'd be suitable to have situated but once they're lit in a safe place they're unassuming and do what they were designed to do.

In conclusion then I'm awarding 3 stars for Yankee's Cranberry Chutney tea lights, the fragrance itself is a five star one in my opinion but I think it's held back a little in this format and should be experienced either as a wax tart or one of the 'Housewarmer' jars. £6.00+ is expensive for what they are but they would make an ideal gift for any Yankee fan, particularly at Christmas when the fragrance would undoubtedly suit so it comes down to personal taste if these are right for you.

Thanks for reading my review.