Does the cheaper candle actually smell like Ernesto?

It gets the leather and tobacco. What it does not get is the rum and beeswax underneath, which is where the original stops smelling like a shop and starts smelling like a room in a house. Judge it on the opening, not the dry-down.

Is the glass worth part of the price?

Trudon's vessels are hand-blown and widely reused, which is a real part of what you are buying. We still rank on cost per burn hour, because that is the part of the purchase that is actually fragrance.

Candles that smell like Trudon Ernesto

How they compare

Trudon Ernesto compared with its closest matches
Candle	Price	Size	Burn	Per hour
Trudon Ernesto	[ Not shown ]	9.5 oz	55 hrs	—
Teakwood & Tobacco (P.F. Candle Co)	[ Not shown ]	7.2 oz	40 hrs	—
Havana Vanilla (Capri Blue)	[ Not shown ]	19 oz	85 hrs	—
Brooklyn (Brooklyn Candle Studio)	[ Not shown ]	7.5 oz	50 hrs	—

[ Not shown ] is a figure we hold and are withholding. Not observed is one nobody here has recorded. Hover or focus either for the reason.

Burn hours are as stated by each maker, never measured by us. Where a shop publishes a different figure we record both and say so. “Not observed” means nobody here has ever recorded a price for that row. “Not shown” means we hold one and are withholding it, because its source page or its pricing basis was never recorded, and a sale price set against a list price produces a wrong answer from correct arithmetic. The reasons per row: Trudon Ernesto — Price not shown — source not recorded; Teakwood & Tobacco — Price not shown — basis not established; Havana Vanilla — Price not shown — basis not established; Brooklyn — Price not shown — basis not established.

The original

What Ernesto actually smells like

Top: Tobacco leaf
Middle: Leather
Rum
Base: Smoked wood
Beeswax

The matches

How close each one gets

Teakwood & Tobacco
P.F. Candle Co
Leather, teak and orange in a 7.2 oz jar. It gets the leather and tobacco convincingly and costs about a quarter as much per hour.
Where to buy
Havana Vanilla
Capri Blue
Smoky tobacco and sandalwood under vanilla. The tobacco half with sweetness where the original has rum and beeswax.
Where to buy
Brooklyn
Brooklyn Candle Studio
Leather and cassis over patchouli and wild sage. Aged-leather character with a fruit lift the original does not carry.
Where to buy

Questions

What people ask about this scent

Does the cheaper candle actually smell like Ernesto?: It gets the leather and tobacco. What it does not get is the rum and beeswax underneath, which is where the original stops smelling like a shop and starts smelling like a room in a house. Judge it on the opening, not the dry-down.
Is the glass worth part of the price?: Trudon's vessels are hand-blown and widely reused, which is a real part of what you are buying. We still rank on cost per burn hour, because that is the part of the purchase that is actually fragrance.

Ember & Main is not affiliated with Trudon. We reference the name to describe how these scents compare, and our comparisons are independent editorial opinion. Links on this page currently earn us nothing. If that changes, we will say so here.