Mahendra Arora Special Agarbathi

Fourth review - scroll down for earlier

Everyday perfumed incense. This is the same packet I got back in 2015, and it still smells fresh. Floral and fruit aroma - touch of bubblegum. A clean, attractive room/car freshener fragrance - or perhaps more like a washing up liquid scent. It's pleasant, though little more than that. It's simply an everyday freshener and mood lifter.  Sticks are available, though mainly in India. And the company website is still problematic to access.  

Scent on the burn, as is typical, is similar to that on the stick, though, deeper, warmer, and a little smoky, with subdued top notes. It's acceptable, and is quite decent for a ten year old perfumed incense. But it's not an incense I'd recommend. it's quite pedestrian. I don't know why I have kept it. It's now going into the outhouse to keep the cats company while eating. 


Date: Oct 2024   Score: 23 

Third review

I first burned a Mahendra incense in 2013, the year I started this blog. I have burned 12 others since then, the most recent in 2021. Mahendra don't appear to me to be a top level incense house, though some of their incenses were sold here in the UK for a while. I'm looking around, and I'm not seeing their products available in the UK at the moment [Oct 2023], plus their website is currently down (though this does happen). Their products are available on the India Amazon. 

The sticks are not quality made. They are 7 1/2 inches, with just under 6 1/2 inches of hand rolled charcoal paste on crudely hand cut bamboo splints. They look messy and cheap. The sticks burn for around 40 minutes. There is a pleasant floral aroma on the stick, not too much volatility. It is a sweet rose scent. When the stick is lit, the flame is firm and steady, with a small amount of black smoke. When the flame is burned out the stick has a steady burn producing a moderate amount of blue-grey smoke. The scent is again pleasant, soft, moderate. Not too heady, and not too faint. It is possible this may be the same box I reviewed ten years ago; though I could have bought another box at some point. 

I am OK with this scent as an everyday budget perfumed incense. There's nothing special or interesting about the scent, but it's not a bad one.  It doesn't linger, and it doesn't make much of an impression, but it's providing a modest and pleasant scent in order to refresh a room for a low price.


Date: Oct 2023   Score: 23  

Second review

This is quite a pleasant, above average perfume-dipped incense. It is a gentle aroma, not harsh or hot, and without the chemical intensity that can accompany some cheap dipped incense. There is a relaxing floral display, strengthened by jasmine, and underscored with musky sandalwood. Decent enough.


Date: Feb 2017   Score: 30 

First review

Modest charcoal and perfume sticks in an attractive floral designed box. A decent strength and pleasant floral and citric aroma with fresh fruit notes. It's clearly artificial, and a little bit too much of roses, which feels a bit old fashioned, but it is a pleasant and versatile smell. Great as an everyday aroma.


Date: March 2015   Score: 30 


Average score of  27 across four reviews. 

***

Mahendra Betco - Best of

Best floral incense