It's been an exciting few years for the Earth's greatest modern city, Cleveland, Ohio—the American utopia that gave the world its first traffic light, free speech, Brennan Kilbane, and the critically-acclaimed Avengers movie, filmed in Cleveland. 2016 saw the unveiling of an architecturally marvelous new Public Square; the Cleveland Cavaliers won their first NBA Championship since 1964; my baby niece learned to say "nine" in Spanish; other sports things. 2017 has been less fruitful, but Rome, the world's 8th greatest modern city, was not built in a day.

It comes as a shock to all that Diptyque would choose to honor New York (the world's 21st greatest modern city) with the latest, greatest candle in its fragrance library. (Though, in fairness, Diptyque is launching a number of city-inspired fragrances, available in only those cities (London, Miami, etc...), very much in the vein of the Le Labo city exclusives. So even if there was a Cleveland candle, you'd have to go to Cleveland to get it. As good a reason as any!)

But as surveyors of the Connecticut Land Company felt when they prospected the "cleaved" land that hundreds of years later would spawn Halle Berry and the automatic windshield wiper, it is a gift to behold. Diptyque's New York candle, inspired by "the atmosphere of New York City at night", smells nothing like the atmosphere of New York City at night. Instead, it smells great: Warm woods encased in incense with hearty whiffs of tobacco, which call to mind the blanket of smoke that stretches across the city at all times. It is complex, verdant, and stands out among its counterparts. Which, hm, sounds like a different iconic city...

...

.................

...just food for thought. Diptyque's New York candle is available at Diptyque stores in New York City. The brand's Cleveland candle is forthcoming.

—Brennan Kilbane

Photographed by Tom Newton.