Fumino Simply Sandalwood Premium Incense Cones

 

Whoever makes the incense that  Inbound To Anglia Ltd imports under the brand name Fumino, it's good stuff. This is a sweet patchouli-like sandalwood cone. Very resinous and compelling. It reminds me of the awesome UK based Sai Handicrafts Gold Sandal. I have corresponded with and met Pinkesh who insists that he makes Sai incense himself in Hitchin. Forgive me, but I do find that hard to believe, even though he has said it to my face. The incense is so good, yet not expensive. I shall be reviewing more Sai Handicraft soon, because when I met up with Pinkesh, I bought a good few of his incense. Anyway, whatever sandalwood scent is used in Sai Handicraft's incense is likely the same scent as used in this Fumino stick. I suspect it is IBCH or Sandenol - a top quality sandalwood synthetic. It doesn't smell natural - it is too sweet, too rich, too powerful, too enjoyable. I love it, but it is too clean and pure - there are no rough, natural notes that really lift the natural. But I do love it. It's incense like this which really gets into the core of the debate between natural and synthetic. Synthetic often (usually?) smells more beautiful and attractive than natural. But lacks the magic. Lacks the quirky notes that lift a natural scent into a different level. Beer without the hops would taste too sweet. Natural scents have the bitter hop taste that balances out and makes more interesting the otherwise too cloying sweetness of the malt. 

But I love this. Not natural (too powerful and attractive), but fucking lovely nonetheless. 

Date: Nov 2024   Score: 45 

***

Fumino

Inca Aromas White Breu

 

This is my sort of incense - heady, resinous, musky, deep, dark, herby, fresh, and feeling natural. Proper incense. On a stick. This is the original incense that the Inca Aromas company made. It is based on white breu resin, which comes from the bark of  the  Alma Cegueira tree, which is native to the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon Forest.  White breu is sacred to the indigenous people of the Amazon.  White breu is present in all three of the Inca Aromas incense I have - though the other two have additional fragrance oils added. This relies on the white breu for the aroma. Though it contains frankincense resin, I suspect that is used more as a fixative than for its aroma. 

As with most of the true incenses I have encountered, this has little aroma on the stick. There is a warm fragrance up close, but the main fragrance only gets released when lit up. The burn is when the scents are released. Aspects of these Inca Aromas sticks remind me of Indian dhoops - hearty, almost crude, direct, honest, heady incense. Uncompromising, and certainly not delicate or perfumed. A little goes a long way. This is an overpowering and inspiring incense - it's not balanced and aesthetic, it is about the power and the sacred natural beauty of this ancient and revered scent. Great stuff! One of the incenses to try before you die!!!

Date: Nov 2024    Score: 47 

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Incense Around the World

  

Inca Aromas

Fumino Black Opium Premium Incense Cones

Well known perfumes, such as Yves Saint Laurent's Opium and Black Opium, are popular sources of scent in Indian incense, though the makers would never admit they are copying such incenses. But it's an easy way to attract attention and get sales. 

Fumino is the brand name of a British importer and online trader, Inbound To Anglia, who source the incense from India. While not certain, there are indications that the incense is made by Vivasvan International of Bangalore, who trade as Garden Fresh. Though the company was founded too recently to be "third generation" as claimed in one of Fumino's blurbs. 

The scent on the cone is gently perfumed - spice (nutmeg, cinnamon), citric (orange), licorice, wood, floral. It's professional, well balanced, and pleasant. Some of those scents are in YSL's Black Opium. Each person will recognise and pull out other scents from this incense, and I suspect they will likely also be found in YSL's Black Opium. 

It's a moderately smoky cone with a reasonably assertive presence which I tend to favour. The scents on the burn kinda follow those on the cone, though there's more candy sweet tones, along with more wood and warmth. It's a decent, modern fragrance - quite enjoyable, without being exciting or interesting, or my sort of thing. I like modern scents in incense, though the main reason I burn incense is for the links to tradition, so modern scents are not holding my interest and touching my emotions now as much as they did when I first starting getting into incense just over ten years ago. 

On the whole a decent, good quality, modern style incense, but one that doesn't quite grab me. 

Date: Oct 2024   Score: 31

***

Fumino

Opium

 

Inca Aromas Pitanga

 

This is the second of three Inca Aromas scents I bought from the USA website Exotic Incense for $7.  I reviewed the Priprioca in May. I liked it, and wanted to learn more. The current owners directed me to the previous owner, Thiago, for details on the founding of the company, and the Inca connection. Unfortunately I've not had a response.

This Pitanga is remarkably similar to the Priprioca. Indeed, the ingredients are the same -   white breu resin, frankincense, "Inca aromas resin compound", etc, apart from the use of  Priprioca fragrance oil in the first, and Pitanga fragrance oil in this one. The third one, White Breu, has the same ingredients, but leaves out the fragrance oil.  Pitanga, also known as the Brazilian cherry, has several positive medicinal properties as well as being used as an insect repellent.  The fruit is delicious, and very healthy, but is so delicate it cannot travel. The scent is citric, floral, green, and summery (depending on its ripeness), but cannot be captured, so needs to be replicated. I'm not sure what sort of  "Pitanga fragrance oil" has been used here, but I'm getting the same sort of sage like herby notes that I found in the Priprioca. I have lit up the Priprioca to compare. They are very similar, though the Priprioca is more woody, earthy, rubbery, while the Pitanga is lighter and cleaner. But the differences are minor. I guess I might edge toward favouring this Pitanga, but if someone brought one of these to me on a blind test, I doubt I could pick out which one it was. 

Date: Oct 2024    Score: 39 

***

Incense Around the World

  

Inca Aromas

Mysore Deep Perfumery House (MDPH)

  

Mysore Deep Perfumery House (MDPH) was created in 1992, and by 2023 had an annual turnover of £65 million.   Zed Black is their main brand, and has been named as one of the top brands in India.  MDPH also make incense for own label Western companies, such as Fleur De Vie  for the Dutch company Eastern-trading. 

Reviews

  

MDPH Fleur De Vie White Lotus (PM)
June 2023 - Score: 33 

   

MDPH Fleur De Vie Holy Temple (PM)
Oct 2024 - Score: 29

   

MDPH Zed Black Sandal Agarbatti (PM)
Oct 2023 - Score: 29 

   

MDPH Fleur De Vie Dream Sage (P)
June 2023 - Score: 20 

Reviews: 4 
Top score: 33
Bottom score: 20
Average: 28

***

The Best Incense Makers

MDPH Fleur De Vie Holy Temple

 

Available from several places, such as Pilgrims Bazaar on eBay at £1.79 for 15g, this is a MDPH (Mysore Deep Perfumery House) product. MDPH are better known for their heavily promoted Zed Black brand. My blog has been spammed by sellers of Zed Black for years. MDPH are a huge company, with enormous incense producing units which they are proud to declare as the largest in the world.  Fleur De Vie is a brand name of  a Dutch importer, Eastern-Trading, who claim to be the largest incense wholesaler in Europe.  

The stick is a standard modern perfumed-masala. 8 inches long with 6 inches of hand-rolled charcoal paste on a plain bamboo splint. A light dusting of melnoorva powder (sometimes called masala powder these days) finishes off the stick. The scent on the stick is light, dry, mineral, warm, pleasant, woolly, perfumed, professional. It hovers around an everyday body-mist scent, soap, and a subtle room freshener. It's not exciting, but it's not bad either. It feels more geared to a Western market than an Asian one. 

The scent on the burn is gentle, dry, pleasant, professional, well behaved, slightly woody, some sandalwood, some vanilla, some herb. It's OK, but it doesn't grab me. It's reasonably cleansing and calming, and doesn't call attention to itself. A gentle Sunday morning relaxant. 

Date: Oct 2024    Score: 29 

***

MDPH

HEM Patchouli Masala incense

  

I like patchouli, so I'm inclined to like this. But I'm not enjoying it as much as I expected. The masala incense I've had from HEM has been pretty good, and - to be fair - this is not bad. It's just that it's a little dry and plain for me, lacking some of the rich, sweet, heady, passionate sexiness I adore about patchouli. The sticks are standard length, but the charcoal paste is thinly rolled, and the melnoorva (brown tree bark powder used to help dry the paste, increasing called masala powder these days) is meagrely applied. But, having said that, I've had a good number of similar looking sticks which were very dreamy.   

The scent on the stick has some sense of patchouli, but also of  everyday cologne or body-mist spray. There's a gentle volatility (which is common with both perfume-dipped incense and flora incense), pleasant room freshener top notes, and a general similarity to other perfumed masala incenses such as the New Moon/Wonder incenses which are everywhere these days. 

The scent on the burn is pleasant, attractive, with a moderate, attractive sweetness and sexiness, some woody warmth, and is generally more attractive than the scent on the stick (largely because the top notes are subdued, and the emphasis is on the sexy, woody, musky base notes. And I tend to favour the musky base notes (though I love it more when they are balanced and enriched by a wonderful display of middle and top notes). 

On the whole I like this, though I feel it could be doing more, and doing it better.  

Date: Oct 2024  Score:  34

***

HEM Corporation

Patchouli

HEM Champa Black Natural Masala Incense

 

Export only Satya size box with an attractive black design picked out in silver. There's an image of Ganesh, the four armed elephant god, on the box.  This is a standard masala incense - something that HEM are not really associated with; they are mostly associated with perfumed incense, and are the leading exporter of such incense. They have increased their range of masala incenses, and are possibly looking to compete with Satya - globally the best known producer of masala incense.  There is a Hem Champa - this is a Black variation.  Champa tends to refer to floral incense - usually plumeria or frangipani.  There isn't a black plumeria, but there are some very dark reds that are named black, such as Blackjack. I assume the Black in the name is suggestive of mood and style rather than an actual flower, such as Blackjack. The name and presentation is rather cool and stylish. I like it. 

Standard size stick - 8 inches with 6 inches of charcoal paste hand-rolled onto a plain bamboo splint. The scent is kinda similar to the Ullas Traditions of India I've just been burning. The scents are not the same - the Ullas is sharper, richer, and less sweet - but there is a similarity. This falls into the modern perfumed masalas that are becoming more common and more popular, and which are exemplified by New Moon/Wonder Incense products. The scent on the stick is sweet and pleasant - floral, yet woody. That blend of wood and floral is generally quite successful, and has been used on some key Indian incenses, such as Sugandha Shringar and Satya Nag Champa. This Black has a modern perfumed soft vanilla and cologne scent, yet also has a foot in traditional Indian incense. 

As is common with scented incense, the fragrance on the burn is less sweet, less sharp, less bright, and with fewer top notes than the scent on the stick. There is an added warmth, though also the muddle of smoke. HEM are a very experienced and successful perfumed incense company, yet even they haven't yet developed a way of having burning perfume smell as good as the perfume on the stick. That said, I like the fragrance on the burn - just not as much as the fragrance on the stick. It diffuses attractively around the room, creating a warm mood of woods and deep florals. 

Date: Oct 2024  Score:  35

***

HEM Corporation

Ullas Patil's Traditions of India Premium Flora Bathi

 

This is made by Patil Parimala Works of Bangalore who trade as Ullas. SamsaSpoon/Irene who runs the PlumeOfSmoke blog, got in touch recently to say that Sri Durga Perfumery Works (two of whose scents I had reviewed: Spiritual 7 Chakras and Spiritual Yoga) had closed, and their Spiritual range been taken over by Patil Parimala, so would be known in future as Ullas. 

This is labelled as a "Flora Bathi". "Flora" is a vague term. The earliest use I have found is for Sai Flora, and much incense that is called flora appears to have something in common with that legendary incense - particularly the heavy use of oils. The intention appears to be as rich as possible. Crude almost. Vulgar almost. Floras tend not to be delicate or subtle incenses. And oddly, despite the richness, a good number of floras are reasonably priced. It seems to be part of the tradition that a flora should be bright, bold, and yet not expensive. They are very Indian, and are mainly aimed at the domestic market, where they may be sold in a luxury box at a premium price. This is sold in a Goloka style box - larger than a Satya box, but smaller than a luxury box. And it is priced at 30 Rupees (approx 27p) for 15 sticks, so a fairly standard price - not a bargain price, but not a premium price. At this price and strength the oils used are more likely to be fragrance oils than essential oils. Fragrance oils are not pure oils - they will have a proportion of synthetic fragrance added to them - perhaps as much as 100% synthetic. But synthetic fragrances are not bad - most luxury perfumes, such as Chanel No5, have a proportion of synthetic fragrance to increase strength and depth and also accuracy of the scent. This box, though, says 100% Nature. The box also mentions halmaddi - a fixative that holds and boosts the strength and durability of fragrances. 

The appearance is of a standard masala incense:  an eight inch stick with 6 inches of charcoal paste hand-rolled onto a plain bamboo splint, and then coated with a brown melnoorva powder (increasingly these days, the melnoorva - which is usually unscented powdered tree bark placed on the paste to stop the sticks from gluing together as they dry - is termed "masala powder" because it is so associated with masala style incense). The scent on the stick is warm, sweet, floral - reminiscent of talcum/baby powder. The floral notes are rose and iris. There's some mild woody notes underneath. Some citric hints. A touch of men's cologne. Some bubblegum (fruit and phenolic wheat beer). It's an attractive scent - warm, sweet and familiar. Somewhat synthetic and lacking in depth, but pleasing. 

The scent on the burn is similar to that on the stick - sweet, pleasant, everyday cologne and baby powder. It reminds me of the modern perfume based sticks made by Balarama.  It's not as rich and traditional smelling as other floras I've had. It burns well and diffuses attractively around the room - it makes itself known without being assertive. I like it, but it doesn't transcend the ordinary. I kinda prefer the richer scent on the stick. A lot of the top notes are lost on the burn. But it is still nice. 


Date: Oct 2024   Score: 31 

***

Flora, Fluxo, and Supreme

HEM Church Incense

   

Available in the UK in 15g packs for less than £2, such as 0.89p from AlliBhavan. This is a masala incense using traditional finely ground fragrant ingredients with fragrant oils - as seems to be the common way these days. 

The scent on the stick is glorious. Very sweet, yet with sober tones of stone or mineral, sprinkled with vanilla, drizzled with honey, and kept active and on edge with a prickly awareness of halmaddi. There's benzoin in this - layers of caramel and almonds; some wood, some ash, some stone dust, some of that rubbery and chalky smell from medical gloves. It's quite fascinating and attractive. 

I've been burning this in various parts of the house over the past few days, and I really enjoy it. A good, clean, proper incense smell with notes of frankincense and myrrh on the burn, though the benzoin is also there underneath. It diffuses well - never aggressive, yet also never knowingly undersold. It has a distinct warm presence in the house, and it lingers beautifully for hours afterwards. This is great value incense. Good, traditional stuff.  And a touch heavenly. At that price from AlliBhavan, I'm getting in a few packets!  

This is currently my highest rated HEM incense. 

Date: Oct 2024  Score:  40

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HEM Corporation

Nippon Kudo Naturense Calm Night

 

Naturense is a range of incense by Nippon Kudo. The promotion is that this range is for "people who insist [on] their own natural life style" and are "particular about their choice and its ingredients". There appear to be five scents in the range: Calm Night (this one) with vetiver and chamomile; Comfortable Time with lavender and rosemary; Refreshed Time with geranium and ylang ylang; Oriental Mind with sandalwood and patchouli; and Inspired Mind with lemongrass and orange. 

There are 40 short dhoop style sticks in the little box. These are available worldwide at around £11 a box.  Helpfully on my box there's an import label with an ingredients list. The list is not impressive - it supports my own experience of Nippon Kudo (and other Japanese incense) as being essentially perfumed incense rather than masala (or pure fine ground) incense. It contains guaiacwood oil (also called oil of guaiac), which comes from the sawdust of the palo santo tree, and is used in soaps and room fresheners to introduce a gentle rose like scent. It contains this - which is also known as vetivone, and is a vetiver synthetic.  And limonene, which is an aroma compound extracted from citrus fruits. I'm fine with synthetic fragrances being used in perfumes and incense - they can be purer, stronger, easier to use, and cheaper than using natural fragrances. But reading the ingredients list makes me wonder why these sticks cost more than £10 - there's nothing here which appears to justify that cost. *Eugene of Bhagwan Incense  has pointed out in the comments below that labour costs in Japan need to be taken into account.

The sticks have a faint wood scent - possibly cedar. Quite attractive, though also quite faint, and rather simple. They smell of pencil shavings. That's OK, I like pencil shavings. But I don't admire the scent - I just find it pleasant. The scent on the burn is fairly similar to that on the stick, though (as normal) warmer and more smoky, and introducing notes of scorched paper (which I find common with incense sticks made of wood powder rather than charcoal. There's a touch of rose, perfumed soap, mild floral and citric notes hovering just above the scorched paper. The diffused scent is that of ash and scorched paper, and it leaves a faded, dirty, faint wood smoke aroma in the house. 

Not really my thing at any price, but I find it irritating when an everyday chemical-perfumed wood dust incense is sold at five times the price of similar products.  This is the power of marketing over quality - tell people that this incense is aimed at those who are  "particular about their choice and its ingredients", but then sell them cheap synthetic perfumed wood dust. Just because a product asserts that it is Top Quality - Finest Ingredients, doesn't actually mean that it is. 

Date: Feb 2023    Score: 20  

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Japanese incense

Charcoal

 

The two main flammable sources for incense are wood powder and charcoal powder. Over time I have come to prefer charcoal for its purity and cleanliness when burnt. It is less intrusive than wood, though can be a little messy on the fingers. Charcoal produces little to no smoke (especially when compared to wood or wood dust), and little to no smell. 

   

Charcoal making in Wales

The best charcoal is that in which the source material (usually wood, but could be other sources such as coconut) has been heated to very high temperatures, and so any impurities are burned off. The best quality charcoal has no scent of its own, and is able to absorb and hold scents very well. The purest charcoal is used for medical purposes because it has no toxins itself, but can absorb toxins. The best charcoal can be detected by rubbing some ash on the back of your hand - the smoother it is the finer it is. All incense sticks (joss sticks) contain some form of combustible material, and, if there are oils or perfumes, some form of absorbable material. Charcoal is widely considered to be the best combustible, and the best absorbable material, and the better incense companies will strive to secure the best charcoal.

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Ingredients