Hunting incense in Lithuania, in the Baltic States of Northern Europe - Daniela Coelho-Rodriguez of nature design website, Forest Homes, where I bought the Lithuanian related Smells Like Spells incense sticks, points me in the direction of Yamuna's Incense in Kaunas, Lithuania's second largest city. The incense names are interesting, and the packaging and presentation is simple, clean, and attractive - there is a general Temple of Incense vibe about the operation. Intrigued I order a batch, and get into conversation with Yamuna, who tells me: "I am Lithuanian, my husband is from India and we split our time between the two countries. The story behind Yamuna’s Incense is very simple – I was searching for incense that wouldn’t cause me headaches and after extensive research in India we found what I was looking for. Initially I was using the incense for our home and gradually things evolved into Yamuna’s Incense. Basically, this brand was born out of a desire to create and share things I like with others. And that is not only about incense, it’s also about block printing, Indian shawls, scarves and more – essentially Indian crafts adapted to European sensibilities."
I like that notion of a marriage of Indian and Lithuanian cultures producing an incense which is the child of both cultures. Yamuna tells me that "Yamuna’s Incense is conceptualized in Lithuania, most of the fragrances are inspired and created by me and the incense is manufactured in India. We use some local ingredients, for instance Baltic amber oil, spruce resin, sage, thyme, etc". So the vibe feels perhaps a little closer to what Adi Guru is doing with Pure Incense.
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| Yamuna of Yamuna's Incense |
I like that notion of a marriage of Indian and Lithuanian cultures producing an incense which is the child of both cultures. Yamuna tells me that "Yamuna’s Incense is conceptualized in Lithuania, most of the fragrances are inspired and created by me and the incense is manufactured in India. We use some local ingredients, for instance Baltic amber oil, spruce resin, sage, thyme, etc". So the vibe feels perhaps a little closer to what Adi Guru is doing with Pure Incense.
Spiced Moments is a one-stick sample that Yamuna included in the order. The presentation is beautiful, and gives a sense of value to the incense. The peacock feather is a particularly nice touch (and peacocks shed their feathers each year, so there are in general no ethical concerns).
The stick is extruded from a paste that appears to be part charcoal part wood. The paste is very hard and dry. There is a gentle and very pleasing cold throw fragrance with warm and uplifting sweet spice notes such as nutmeg and cinnamon sitting comfortably between sweet gentle and delicate florals with fresh zesty touches, and a warm woody musk. It's an engaging whole, well constructed; inclining more toward a modern room freshener aroma than to a rustic, natural incense, so perhaps more in the Temple of Incense camp than Pure incense.
There is a very attractive fragrance on the burn - both sweet and rustic. The accord is very familiar, though I can't put my finger on it. It feels like I've had this, or something very similar before. It reminds me of incense from Balarama, and of incense from Fumino, both of which I enjoy. This is a very calming, soothing, well balanced, harmonious and delightful modern room fragrance incense. It is not smoky or harsh. There is little smoke - it just rather attractively fragrances the home. The blub says: "Citrusy orange combined with warm, herbal and minty cardamom" - softly sweet, warm spicy woody notes are my main take away - cardamom fragrance would provide the nutmeg and cinnamon notes I pick up. While not special or unusual, I found this very nice. Well made modern-aroma room-freshener incense is one of my things. And this is a good one.
The stick is extruded from a paste that appears to be part charcoal part wood. The paste is very hard and dry. There is a gentle and very pleasing cold throw fragrance with warm and uplifting sweet spice notes such as nutmeg and cinnamon sitting comfortably between sweet gentle and delicate florals with fresh zesty touches, and a warm woody musk. It's an engaging whole, well constructed; inclining more toward a modern room freshener aroma than to a rustic, natural incense, so perhaps more in the Temple of Incense camp than Pure incense.
There is a very attractive fragrance on the burn - both sweet and rustic. The accord is very familiar, though I can't put my finger on it. It feels like I've had this, or something very similar before. It reminds me of incense from Balarama, and of incense from Fumino, both of which I enjoy. This is a very calming, soothing, well balanced, harmonious and delightful modern room fragrance incense. It is not smoky or harsh. There is little smoke - it just rather attractively fragrances the home. The blub says: "Citrusy orange combined with warm, herbal and minty cardamom" - softly sweet, warm spicy woody notes are my main take away - cardamom fragrance would provide the nutmeg and cinnamon notes I pick up. While not special or unusual, I found this very nice. Well made modern-aroma room-freshener incense is one of my things. And this is a good one.
Available starting at €17 plus shipping from Yamuna's Incense in Lithuania. If ordering from outside the EU, check your country's customs regulations - I had to pay a fine because the declared value of the package was over £39.
Date: Jun 2026 Score: 38/50
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