Vrindavan Bazaar Night Queen

 

I've just reviewed Bhaktivedanta Manor /Sacred Boutique Night Queen, which I found very desirable. Bhaktivedanta Manor sources from Vrindavan, the sacred city in northern India, which is where this Night Queen comes from. From my experiences with incense sourced from Vrindavan, I wasn't expecting the incense to be the same - it appears there are a number of small enterprises going on in and around Vrindavan, with little organisation as regards who makes what fragrance, so there is some variation. However, I thought the two Night Queens would be closer than what they are. 

This is a hand rolled charcoal paste on a machine cut bamboo splint which has been coloured green on the tip. The paste has a thin covering of brown melnoorva/masala powder. There is a fresh though soft pine disinfectant volatility which eases back after a while to reveal a room freshener floral bouquet touched with woods, mainly sandalwood. It is pleasant. 

The scent on the burn is soft and attractive though perhaps lacks a bit of character. It's an acceptable and familiar floral incense with fine-toothed waxy white jasmine, a sprinkling of rose, and some sandalwood. Florals and sandalwood are a familiar and acceptable partnership, and they work well together here. There's nothing here to excite the interest, but then that's sometimes what is needed. 

Available at $1.40 for 20gm from Vrindavan Bazaar. They ship internationally at reasonable rates. 

Date: Oct 2025   Score: 33

***

   

Vrindavan Bazaar

Night Queen

Night Queen

 

Night Queen is a incense name I have encountered a few times, and hadn't really paid much attention to it. I looked it up once, considered if it was a variation of Parijatha  - the night-blooming jasmine, and ended up concluding it was probably based on the scent of the night flowering cactus known as Queen of the Night. I've looked again, a little more closely this time, and I now suspect it is a different night-scented jasmine - Lady of the Night; known in India as Raat ki Raani or "Night Queen". I land on that conclusion due to the Ittar Store website post, which says: "Night Queen fragrance typically includes notes of Night Queen, jasmine, ylang-ylang, and other floral notes such as rose and lily, as well as a hint of musk or vanilla for a deeper, more sensual aroma", which seems a fair summary of the incense scents I have encountered with the Night Queen name. 

Reviews

Bhaktivedanta Manor /
Sacred Boutique Night Queen (P)
Oct 2025 - Score: 47

  

Vrindavan Bazaar Night Queen (PM)
Oct 2025 - Score: 33

Goloka Blessings Incense Courage
(Night Queen & Sandalwood) (P)
Jan 2019 - Score: 28 

Gokula Gaura Super Night Queen (M)

Nov 2021 - Score: 27

  

Tulasi Night Queen (P)
April 2019 - Score: 20↓↑* 

Jaycia Passion Night Queen (P)
Jun 2013 - Score: 20 

Reviews: 6
Top score: 47
Bottom score: 20
Average: 28

***

Best Scents

Bhaktivedanta Manor / Sacred Boutique Night Queen

 

Sold via the UK Krishna temple, Bhaktivedanta Manor (which was bought by George Harrison for the UK branch of  the international Krishna movement), via their online site Sacred Boutique/KrishnaShopping.com. Sacred Boutique say they import from the sacred city of Vrindavan (incense from which is also sold by Vrindavan Bazaar,  Gokula, Sai Handicrafts, and others). The packet says "Charcoal Free", though the paste crumbles in my fingers, and leaves dark marks similar to charcoal. There are no smouldering paper smells when the stick is burned, which I tend to get from incense which uses wood powder. I would have thought this was a standard charcoal paste stick. Anyway....

Night Queen is a incense name I have encountered a few times, and hadn't really paid much attention to it. I looked it up once, considered if it was a variation of Parijatha  - the night-blooming jasmine, and ended up concluding it was probably based on the scent of the night flowering cactus known as Queen of the Night. I've looked again, a little more closely this time, and I now suspect it is a different night-scented jasmine - Lady of the Night; known in India as Raat ki Raani or "Night Queen". I land on that conclusion due to the Ittar Store website post, which says: "Night Queen fragrance typically includes notes of Night Queen, jasmine, ylang-ylang, and other floral notes such as rose and lily, as well as a hint of musk or vanilla for a deeper, more sensual aroma", which seems a fair summary of the incense scents I have encountered with the Night Queen name. 

This stick is, as indicated above, a perfume-dipped charcoal. I have noted that some incenses from Vrindavan are masala, some are perfumed masala, some are perfume-dipped charcoal, some are hand-rolled, and some are machine-extruded, so it is clear that there are variety of artisan enterprises in and around Vrindavan supplying the various traders. The scent on the stick is quite volatile, and it takes a little moment for the fumes to settle down to be approached as a fragrance rather than an assault of pine disinfectant. And it is worth the wait, for the fragrance is fascinating. It is dark, mysterious, sultry, floral, musky, seductively female, and conjures up images (as least for me, your mileage may vary) of an Arabian belly dancer. There's mint, patchouli, banana, jasmine, leather, shoe polish, coal dust, faint cat piss, and damp straw. It is utterly extraordinary and compelling. 

The scent on the burn builds on the scent on the stick, though is softer and more fragrant with touches of vanilla and Parma Violets. Oooh, it's a gorgeous fragrance. I love this.  And it's only £2.95  for 20g from Sacred Boutique. Lovely stuff. Perfumed-charcoal, eh? Who knew that it could be so beautiful? 

Date: Oct 2025   Score: 47

***

Sacred Boutique

Night Queen

Oriental Zara

 

All of the Oriental masala sticks I've reviewed have had an immediate perfume hit when taken out of the packet. The paste is always hard and dry, yet the scents have been wet and volatile, reminiscent of flora/fluxo incense, such as the original  Sai Flora Fluxo. And like Sai Flora Fluxo there is something appealing about the heady intensity of the aroma on the stick, but there is a limit to that appeal. And that is certainly the case here. These sticks should come with an aroma warning: "Caution - This Aroma May Be Very Volatile. Inhale With Care." I am so hit with the volatility of this fragrance that I'm not able to get close to what the scents are. 

The scent on the burn is medicinal, floral, slightly dirty, mineral, somewhat familiar and everyday, yet curiously interesting. There's some benzoin, jasmine, hint of sandalwood, and something clean and soapy. On the whole I'm just not getting this incense. We're not on the same wavelength, but I think I might get there eventually. My question is, do I want to spend more time with this incense trying to get there? And I think the answer is no.  

Date: Oct 2025   Score: 24

***

Oriental

Oriental Indus

 

An immediate moment of "ooh! lovely scent" from the fragrance on the stick. Candy sweet, jammy, woody, intensely floral - like a full blooming damask rose. I'm not a fan of rose scents in incense - it's not a scent I tend to voluntarily select when buying incense. Though I have totally fallen in love with various rose incenses like Happy Hari's Queen of Roses, and Georg Huber's  Weihrauch Rose, the bulk of them I don't have much time for. They tend to follow the same line, and deliver the same thing. An obvious and heavy and somewhat overbearing floral scent that, natural or not, tends to smell artificial. It's a personal thing - if you like rose incense, fine. Each to their own. There is no official standard in scent appreciation. 

   

Sold by Scenting Secrets for Rs 150

That moment of instant appeal doesn't last long - there's a point at which satiation kicks in, and I've had enough of the scent on the stick. On the burn the scent is predominantly rose. The further away the better - the scent gets lighter and more floral. In the same room it is quite heavy, and there are some unattractive scorched notes, which at times is like burning hair.  

Date: Oct 2025   Score: 25

***

Oriental

Best rose incense

Oriental Agarbatti Co.

  

Oriental is the incense house founded by Attar Syed Rahman Hussain / Attar Khasim Saheb,  the businessman, along with Mr. T. L. Upadycya, who created the bamboo-core agarbatti. So a fairly significant figure in incense culture. By using a bamboo splint it became quicker and easier to make incense sticks. Dhoop, which was the previous main style of Indian incense stick, has a slower production process because it needs to be extruded rather than rolled.  Oriental appear to be refurbishing themselves - the samples I have are titled as by New Oriental Agarbatti Co., and the website is currently (Oct 2025) "under maintenance". But this "new" company was founded in 1890 and is the oldest incense house in the world to make agarbatti. 

I had a perfume-dipped incense by Oriental a few years ago, and I graded it as the worse incense I have ever had (it now shares that honour with some backflow cones from China). But this "new" Oriental, at least the perfumed-masala sticks, produces appealing incense. A little mainstream, and a little heavy on the perfume rather than the natural and complementary aspects of an incense, but decent enough, especially for everyday room freshening and modest atmosphere/mood creation. 

Reviews

Oriental White Oudh (PM)
Oct 2025 - Score: 33

Oriental Mysore Woodys (PM)
Oct 2025 - Score: 31

  

   

Oriental Indus (PM)
Oct 2025 - Score: 25

  

Oriental Zara (PM)
Oct 2025 - Score: 24

Oriental A1 Special Bathi (P)
Aug 2022 - Score: 00 

   

 

Reviews: 5
Top score: 33
Bottom: 00
Average: 28

***

The Best Incense Makers

Oriental White Oudh

 

Oriental is the incense house founded by Attar Syed Rahman Hussain / Attar Khasim Saheb,  the businessman, along with Mr. T. L. Upadycya, who created the bamboo-core agarbatti. So a fairly significant figure in incense culture. By using a bamboo splint it became quicker and easier to make incense sticks. Dhoop, which was the previous main style of Indian incense stick, has a slower production process because it needs to be extruded rather than rolled.  Oriental appear to be refurbishing themselves - the samples (which came to me via Julian of The Incense Atelier) are titled as by New Oriental Agarbatti Co., and the website is currently (Oct 2025) "under maintenance". But this "new" company was founded in 1890 and is the oldest incense house in the world to make agarbatti.  

  

Sold by Scenting Secrets for Rs 200

Hand rolled paste on orange coloured machine-cut bamboo splints. The paste is rock hard, but does crumble with some black dust. I think it could be a wood paste because it's so hard, or perhaps a mix of charcoal and wood. There is a thin and slightly gritty sprinkling of melnoorva/masala powder, and - whoosh - a healthy dose of liquid fragrance with a sharp volatility and a manly woody cologne perfume. I like it. But then I do like oudh/bakhoor. This does project more like a cologne than an incense. 

On the burn the cologne/bakhoor story continues. It's a woody, perfumed, and very attractive scent, quite masculine. Fairly mainstream. This is an incense that could easy be very popular among regular incense buyers, though is perhaps less attractive to the "connoisseur", as it follows a fairly predicable course, and remains on that course, so little different or interesting or special happens, and it is more perfume focused than incense focused.  I like it. It diffuses gently around the room and leaves a lasting perfume. There's nothing really objectionable here, and I'd be happy to burn this in the house as an everyday warming woody room freshener. 

Date: Oct 2025   Score: 33

***

The best oudh incense

   

Oriental

Bhaktivedanta Manor / Sacred Boutique Sandal Blossom

 

Sold via the UK Krishna temple, Bhaktivedanta Manor (which was bought by George Harrison for the UK branch of  the international Krishna movement), via their online site Sacred Boutique/KrishnaShopping.com. Sacred Boutique say they import from the sacred city of Vrindavan (incense from which is also sold by Vrindavan Bazaar,  Gokula, Sai Handicrafts, and others). The packet says "Charcoal Free", though the paste crumbles in my fingers, and leaves dark marks similar to charcoal. There are no smouldering paper smells when the stick is burned, which I tend to get from incense which uses wood powder. I would have thought this was a standard charcoal paste stick. Anyway....

This produces a very attractive mainstream sandalwood scent which has delightful scent notes playing around that central core. There are similarities with the Vrindavan Bazaar Sandal Supreme I've just reviewed, though that will be the case with most Indian sandalwood incense - they follow a similar course. This one is heavier than the Sandal Supreme, with more woody, musky notes. As my taste inclines more toward the woody and musky, I prefer this Sandal Blossom. 

Date: Oct 2025   Score: 37

***

Sacred Boutique

Sandalwood

Vrindavan Bazaar Sandal Supreme

 

Incense made in or around the sacred city of Vrindavan, in northern India, by unknown artisans, and sold by Vrindavan Bazaar. There are other outlets  in Vrindavan, but it is unclear if the incense sold is all made by the same people/person, or even if the incense bought under this name from Vrindavan Bazaar will be made by the same person next time it is bought. What I do know, is that the incense I buy that is made in Vrindavan, whether it is sold by Vrindavan Bazaar, or by Gokula, or by Sai Handicrafts, or by Bhaktivedanta Manor, or any other traders, is very attractive. I like it. The formulations are not sophisticated - indeed, sometimes they can be a little simple, almost crude - but they tend to be charming and great value for money, and often very beautiful.  

The name is written "Sandhal" on the label, which is an unusual though not unique spelling - I have seen it used elsewhere. However, it is spelt "Sandal" on VB's website, so that's what I'm going with. Sometimes the spelling on the labels can be difficult to work out. It is all part of the rustic charm of buying direct  from Vrindavan! 

The scent on the stick is quite earthy and smoky, with contrasting but not clashing farmyard and floral notes. A fairly cool and sharp volatility doesn't sit well with the overall earthy darkness. However, the overall impression is positive. 

The scent on the burn is moderate and pleasing with the main note being a standard sandalwood, common to much Indian sandalwood incense, and which is generally derived from one of several sandalwood synthetics. I tend to find that standard or mainstream sandalwood note quite agreeable, and I suspect most people do as well, as such sandalwood incense is very popular. Around that main note are some wilder and more interesting scents - some florals, some citrus, and some of the darker, earthy notes that were so dominant on the stick.  Those wilder notes gently lift this Sandal Supreme above the average, especially when they approach a musky quality. A generally agreeable and moderately interesting sandalwood incense, good for burning any time.  I'd buy this again, though I wouldn't use it for special occasions. 

Available at £1.06 for 20gm from Vrindavan Bazaar. They ship internationally at reasonable rates. 

Date: Oct 2025   Score: 33

***

   

Vrindavan Bazaar

Sandalwood

Bhaktivedanta Manor / Sacred Boutique

 

The UK Krishna temple, Bhaktivedanta Manor (which was bought by George Harrison for the UK branch of  the international Krishna movement), sells incense via their online site Sacred Boutique/KrishnaShopping.com. Sacred Boutique say they import the incense from the sacred city of Vrindavan (incense from which is also sold by Vrindavan Bazaar,  Gokula, Sai Handicrafts, and others). The packaging is calm and attractive. 

Reviews

Bhaktivedanta Manor /
Sacred Boutique Night Queen (P)
Oct 2025 - Score: 47

Bhaktivedanta Manor / Sacred Boutique
The Dhupa Collection Sandalwood (PM)
Aug 2025 - Score: 39↑

Bhaktivedanta Manor / Sacred Boutique
Sandal Blossom (PM)
Oct 2025 - Score: 37

Bhaktivedanta Manor / Sacred Boutique
Ab Lavender (PM)

Mar 2024 - Score: 24

Reviews: 4

Top score: 47
Bottom score: 24
Average: 33

***

Own brand / Trader

Vinasons (VNS) Kesar Chandan

 

Kesar is saffron, and chandan is sandalwood. They make a popular combination in Indian incense. The scent on the stick is perfumed, strong, volatile, pine disinfectant, camphor, mainstream sandalwood fragrance oil, furniture polish, cardboard. Quite an assortment of scents which don't quite hold together - this feels like a barrage of the senses, not helped by the chemical tinge to the scent, and the icy volatility. My sandalwood essential oils have some volatility, but it is a warm, beguiling volatility, rather than the harshness frequently encountered on some Indian incenses, as here. My assumption is that this fragrance is not put on the stick for the pleasure of the customer - as in the cold throw used by candle makers. My assumption is that this is the fragrance composition put together for best effect when burned - the hot throw. 

And, yes, the scent on the burn is much more attractive and harmonised. It's mainly mainstream sandalwood with sweet florals, some light citrus, petrol, and vanilla. Despite that range of scent notes, the accord remains quite tight, and feels somewhat constricted. This is an attractive incense though despite riffing around the sandalwood scent, doesn't quite project sandalwood - at least not essential oil sandalwood. There's a lot going on, but I'm not getting what it is. I think there is a lack of space between the scents so everything is somewhat blurred together in a whole that I'm having difficulty fully appreciating. 

I think this is a scent I'm going to need to spend more time with. After several attempts I'm not quite getting this one. I'm not sure how much I like or dislike it.  I like the general trend, and I like that it is something of a challenge. But it's not touching me emotionally or aesthetically.  Ah, I'm kinda of getting it now - the mix is tilted more to the saffron than the sandalwood. Mmmm. Interesting - there are sweet saffron moments, and spicy saffron moments. It's not a smooth operation, but that kind of makes it more interesting. 

Kesar Chandan is available in 20g packs from Padma Store for 6.95 Euros, from Everest Trader for $5.00, from Lotus Zen for £6.25, and from VNS at 100 rupees (85p). (If you live outside India, to buy from VNS you need to contact Shreyas Sugandhi at vns@vnsons.com). 

Date: Oct 2025   Score:  35

***

Vithaldas Narayandas & Sons
Vinasons

Sandalwood

Saffron

Reviewed in USA

Vinasons (VNS) Vrinda Chandan

 

Plain perfume-dipped charcoal sticks for cheap casual everyday use and/or for Bhakti. Attractive scent on stick - a little perfumed, volatile, and similar to clothes conditioner fragrance, but quite agreeable. It's more floral and sweet than woody - indeed there isn't much sandalwood scent on the stick. Lavender soap is what I mostly get with sweet plum. 

The scent on the burn is reasonably mild for a sandalwood, and is a little more woody than the scent on the stick. As this is a charcoal stick, the scent is quite clean, with no off-notes from wood paste. It is a modest stick for low cost everyday use. I like the package design. It's more colourful and attractive than most other VNS package designs. 

Vrinda Chandan is available in 25g packs from VNS at 20 rupees (15p), (If you live outside India, to buy from VNS you need to contact Shreyas Sugandhi at vns@vnsons.com). 

Date: Oct 2025   Score:  23 

***

Vithaldas Narayandas & Sons
Vinasons

Sandalwood