Incense in The Wind: Sai Handicrafts UK Gold Sandal (sticks)

Second review - scroll down for earlier

I really loved these sticks when I reviewed them back in 2016, then they got put away in my stash, and I'm not sure if I've burned them since. But returning to them now as part of sorting out my collection (bin, outhouse, or keep), I'm really blown away. While loving single scents (sandalwood, patchouli, frankincense, etc), I have found over the years that I am more interested in blends, especially new and unique blends. However, returning to this stick I find it has awakened my enthusiasm and love for pure scents. Well, for particular single scents, such as sandalwood.

The sticks are a standard 8 inches long with approx 6 inches of soft, crumbly charcoal paste which has been coated in a dusting of melnoorva or wood powder. These are masala style sticks. I have been saying "masala style" for a little while now because from discussions with Indian incense houses, and from my own observations, there are a number of style which give the appearance of being masala (composed of dried, ground fragrant ingredients such as petals, woods, resins, spices), but are actually mainly composed of a fragrant oil - unlikely to be a pure essential oil, more likely to be either a synthetic fragrance (such as the IBCH I mentioned in my first review, which I felt this wouldn't be because it smelled so lovely) or an essential oil diluted by a product such as diethyl phthalate (DEP), which is sold in India under the name "agarbatti oil". I say masala style here because, while I love the fragrance, I am noting when wafting the smoke towards me (not something I recommend - it is more appropriate, and better for your health, to allow the fragrance from the burning incense to infuse the room naturally, so it is the fragrance you inhale rather than the smoke and pollutants which contain toxic properties; I waft partly out of impatience to get at the fragrance, and partly to get closer to the composition of the incense) that some of the top fragrant notes are burning off and not being revealed - something I note can happen with poor formulations which burn too hot or too quickly, and/or when a liquid fragrance is used, though I don't know why. And, while these sticks are at least seven years old, there is still a fragrance volatility on the stick which I only note when oils and perfumes are used. There will be some volatility in the scent of natural sandalwood, though I only detect the fragrance, I don't detect the volatility (felt as a coolness or alcoholic spirit) on solids.

All that said, I love this. I think there has been some maturing (deepening) of the fragrance over the years (which I tend to find in proper masala rather than perfumed incense). I think these sticks are a blend of solid masala ingredients and fragrant oils, and that the fragrant oils are decent quality. It would be interesting to know who Sai Handicraft source from. [2024 comment: Pinkesh of Sai Handicrafts tells me they make the incense themself] I have just ordered some more incense from them, as I enjoyed these sticks so much. At £2 for approx 15g, these are good value.

Date: Nov 2023 Score: 42

First review

I picked up this packet, and some hand rolled dhoops also called Gold Sandal, from a market stall in Oxford, when I was there for the Oxford Half Marathon in October (2015). Some sticks were burning, and they smelled so lovely I bought some. The stall holder was enthusing about how natural they were, and that they were the real thing, but he also had some Hem products on his stall, so I didn't pay much attention. They appear to be from a cottage industry - there is a Sai Handicraft in India, but they deal with weddings not incense, so probably not the same company. There is an email address, so I may get in touch to see what else they have on offer. [Note: 2023 - I have just searched and found that Sai Handicraft are a small UK importer who sell Indian goods and some own brand incense at festivals around the UK.]

The sticks are hand rolled with a charcoal paste and then rolled in a fine golden brown wood powder. The wood dust has not been applied well because all the packets on the stall had loose dust inside. The aroma is sandalwood - it's a prickly fairly one-dimensional sandalwood, but it's sweet and musky, so I like it anyway.

I have a soft spot for sandalwood - well, the real thing, not the perfume dipped sticks which use the chemical IBCH. [Note: 2023 - IBCH is a compound with a sandalwood aroma] I have been burning a range of sandalwood incense since last night when I reviewed the strongly sandalwood based Tulasi Vidwan. I returned to one of my all time favourite incenses Nandita Wood Spice, and found I still loved it, and moved up its score a little; I also returned to Krishna Priya Chandan by one of my favourite incense makers, Goloka, and moved that up as well. Though on burning GR International Sandalo this morning, an incense that has been in my Top Ten for nearly three years, I found it a little flat compared to the sandalwoods I have discovered since 2013, so I moved it out of the Top Ten, and below this one.

What the Wood Spice and the Krishan Priva have that this, the Vidwan and the Sandalo don't have, for all their sweet muskiness, is that there is more going on than just the sandalwood - there are balancing and contrasting aromas that weave in and create a magic spell that keeps your mind and senses alive - the Wood Spice especially.

I like this Sai Gold Sandal, especially as it informs the house and leaves a gorgeous lingering aroma, but I don't see it becoming one of my all time favourite incenses.

Date: Jan 2016 Score: 34

***