LOVE MATCH
The Rake has helped create a scented candle that complements cigar smoke and obscures its aftermath. The result, as we believe the kids say, is lit.
I have always been fascinated by small things that make big differences, like the addition to a cigar of the elusive medio tiempo leaf, or polishing one’s shoes to a high shine. There is a lot in life, like exercise, where the benefits need an awful lot of work and are too easily stripped away, so the quest of finding joy and comfort in a game of backgammon or in socks that don’t roll down is advice I am willing to part with gratis.
This is why I love candles, and consider them the ultimate gift for the home. Especially at this time of year, there is nothing more seasonal than Christmas aromas mingling with a scented candle, with the flames dancing a merry jig (an essential component). Having been an avid consumer for many years, it was something of a milestone to be asked to take part in creating a candle.
Earlier in the year I spoke to the inspirational and ever exuberant Hani Farsi, a man for whom others will do anything — and not out of fear but love. He said he was doing something that felt astonishing in its simplicity but revolutionary in its impact, which was to create a candle that both complemented cigar smoke and obscured its aftermath. The candle, he said, would invoke the spirit of London, where reading rooms and historic buildings have played host to Corinthian smokers across the centuries. The name of the candle? ‘Smoke’.
