https://miiverse.nintendo.net/posts/AYMHAAABAADMUKlYz1zqxQ

Aonuma says:
"If you noticed something strange with this picture, you’re quite the Zelda fanatic! That’s right, shops in the past Zelda games sold things that would run out once you use them like arrows and bombs, items that needed replenishing. They have never sold an item that doesn’t go away after each use like the boomerang or the hookshot."

As far as I know, he did play it, he just never finished it because he found it too hard.

TBH, Zelda was really hard without Nintendo Power back then :)

Even when I read that, I still thought he'd at least finished the game. And the fact you can buy the Blue Candle is a very basic fact in the game that you'd know within 10 minutes of starting it up even with no guidance.

The reason I would them doing this is so that you can approach the dungeon's in any order

You are at least exaggerating.  Getting rupees in the original is not nearly as easy as it is in later editions of the game. 60 rupees is rather expensive and 10 minutes is nowhere long enough for someone with no guidance to want to make the commitment of those 60 rupees on an item they don't know the function of.  Don't even make this about intelligence either, because the game just kind of throws you into the game without any instructions.  If it were your first Zelda game, you'd take over an hour to learn this, I'm sure.

I should have said, no additional guidance. The picture and purpose of the Blue Candle is in the instruction manual. It's clearly a permanent item.

He would still be wrong without looking at Zelda 1. What about the magic armor in Twilight Princess? Bow in Link's Awakening? Zora's Tunic in Ocarina of Time? Boomerang in Minish Cap? Everything at Beetle's shop in Skyward Sword?

It's just a Miiverse post. Don't read too much into it.

Even aLttP had shops where you could buy a new shield, in case it got eaten by a like-like. I dunno if the bottle salesman in Kakariko Village would also count as a "shop".

Maybe Zelda 1 was the last one Aonuma played.