Nandita Black Gold Natural Incense

  

Fifth review - scroll down for earlier

I first came upon Nandita in 2013 when I reviewed their Wood Spice, an incense that I have reviewed seven times over the years, and it has retained its beguiling beauty for me - remaining always at least in my Heavenly Incense grouping, and sometimes in my Top Drawer. It was my highest scoring Nandita until last year when this Black Gold topped it. I first reviewed Black Gold in 2018, and loved it; it moved up into the Heavenly Incense grouping on my next review, and it has remained in my top scoring listings ever since. 

Nandita are a solid, traditional incense house. The brand was founded in 1956 by K.Y. Acharya of Acharya Products, a popular chain of incense shops in Mumbai. Their reputation in India is such that people queue in front of their shops. Nandita's reputation has spread to other countries, such as to enthusiasts in South America, and, in particular, to Japan where Nandita is considered an incense for connoisseurs of Indian incense, and stocks often sell out as soon as they arrive. Historically they haven't had much success in North America and Europe. There is some speculation that Acharya outsource the making of Nandita incense. There is also speculation that Acharya make incense for other incense houses, including Goloka. Such sharing of production is common in some businesses, such as brewing, for reasons of economy of scale and keeping transport costs down. Guinness famously sends the concentrated wort it makes in Dublin out to breweries around the world, who add local water and then finish the brewing and bottling in the local brewery. And many popular beers are brewed under licence in countries around the world. Provided the incense houses are experienced and professional with good quality-control, it doesn't really matter who makes the incense sticks - what matters is the recipe. I wrote to Guru  Acharya  of Nandita about this outsourcing issue matter. I didn't get a response.  

Nandita are currently being globally distributed by the Shah family who own Wonder Incense. The Shah family may have encouraged Nandita to configure new incense blends for a Western market and at a competitive price. And it is even possible that, other than brand name, Nandita may have little to do with the production of all or some of their incense. There is speculation that Nandita's quality has declined over the years. This may be true; though I have heard such speculation about a number of incense companies from Shroff to Satya.  The key scents, such as Wood Spice and this Black Gold, remain, for me, quite solid, but newer scents appear rushed and not thought through - the ones I struggle with are those aimed at the "New Age" shops, with incense names such as Dream Spirit, Flower of Life, Marijuana, Aura Cleansing, etc. But having said that, I feel that Nandita is an experienced and professional enough incense house that they rarely produce a rough or bargain basement incense, even when cutting costs and aiming low. 

I did have a look at what folks were saying about Nandita on blogs and forums. ORS said back in 2014: "I tried several of the Nandita scents. These incenses are all essentially perfume based, but they’re all blends that don’t go instantly reminding you of other incenses. Mantra Meditation, Wood Spice, Dehn Al Oudh, and Royal Attar all show up as decent variations on a given thing, but many of these aren’t easy to describe due to the fairly complex oils at work. They’re all extremely affordable but I’d be hesitant to pick one or two of these as a favorite as they’re all pretty close." Which is a fair enough positive comment from a blog that rarely gets involved directly in Indian incense, though I'm not clear what is meant by "essentially perfume based" given that is the state of play of most incense, Indian, Asian, or otherwise (apart from the trending resin-on-a-stick incenses, and Tibetan incense, which is very plant based).  I agree with the comment by Jeff, that Nandita is close in quality to Balaji, though in my experience, Balaji is the more exciting and interesting incense house (though things may change now that their best "nose", Ashish Shah, has left, and is now working on scents for BIC).  

Irene of Rauchfahne liked the Black Gold, after having disappointing experiences with the more everyday stuff. Though her sticks came direct from India where she says they are sold machine extruded. My sticks are from a fresh packet, and are a soft, crumbly charcoal paste covered with a generous fragrant melnoorva/masala powder. The paste is neat and smooth on the stick, but the softness of the paste suggests to me that they are hand-rolled. There is an ongoing debate about the difference between machine extruded and hand rolled. Much Asian incense, such as from Tibet, China, and Japan, is extruded - sometimes by hand, sometimes by machine. And that is the way stick incense was made before two Mysore businessmen, T.L. Upadyaya and Attar Khasim Saheb,  introduced the use of a central bamboo stick as a way to simplify and speed up production as it could be taught easily to women who could make the sticks at home. I've rarely noticed anything negative about extruded incense, be it extruded by machine or manually, and I generally find it neater and more consistent in the burn.  

Comments on Reddit tend to be positive, with most folks regarding them as a solid Indian incense house, though with some concerns about recent quality, which is probably part due to the commercial targeting of the Western "New Age" market, and part due to the general trend everywhere of cost saving.  This comment on Black Gold drew a lot of responses as it referenced my blog. I totally agree with the poster, and have always said that scent appreciation is personal and subjective. This is also what science says; and, though some individuals can be trained to be reasonably objective in recognising odours, and there is ongoing study into the theory that scent can be objective and external to us,  scents are linked to our emotions and memories in an intensely personally manner unlike any of our other senses. 

Anyway. What is my response to Nandita Black Gold this year? 

The scent on the stick is sweet and creamy, with vanilla notes, fruits, and florals. Some petrol-like volatility awakes the senses without the shock that some perfumes can have. There are woods and fresh raw woodland mushrooms and damp earth and blood and fresh-cut oak sawdust. Wonderful!. Yes, a complex accord like this is not going to appeal to everyone. There are personal memories and associations here which are going to be different for everyone. The poster on Reddit felt it reminded him of blowing pot smoke through tumble dryer sheets - now that is as uniquely individual as you're likely to get from an incense stick!  

The scent on the burn is woody and warm and comforting. It's somewhat generic masala (or perfumed-masala; the only essential difference these days appearing to be if the perfume is purely folded into the paste - masala, or if there is some additional perfume added externally - perfumed masala), but that is part of its charm - that familiarity. The core of the scent pleasure is the creamy sandalwood, the gentle sweetness with hints of honey and chocolate lifts it, and the elusive ever-shifting and tantalising top notes which float on top really makes the whole thing sparkle. Like most great things it's really hard to pin down exactly what it is about this that makes it work for me, but I'm so glad it does. I adore this incense.

It may not be for everyone, but as an example of one the leading incenses by a respected mainstream Indian incense house,  I have put it in my list (still in progress) of 101 Incenses You Must Try. Available everywhere and easy to buy at low cost - just type "Nandita Black Gold" into Google to find local retailors.  £2.00 (or local equivalent) for 15g is the target price. 

Date: April 2025    Score: 49

Fourth review

This is divine and very beguiling. It's an intoxicating fragrance which pulls me in and seduces me. Honey, fruit, alcohol, bitter oranges, sandalwood, the essence of Indian incense. I love this. It's creamy, woody, sweet in a heavenly way - not cloying or cheap, milky, and with little touches of fruit and tobacco and alcohol and bitter almonds to give depth, edge, and interest.  There's a lot going on, and I've just looked down at previous reviews and seen the variety of scents I have experienced. This is a compelling, beautiful, gentle, wonderful incense. I love it! 


Date: April 2024    Score: 46 

Third review

This packet is from 2018 - I haven't bought a new one, I found it while rummaging in one of my incense boxes. The sticks are rather rough and unpleasant looking, and the design on the box is a bit meh, but the scent on the burn is proper. Impressive for a five year old incense. 

The sticks are 8 inches long, with 6 inches of scruffily rolled still moist black paste coated in a fine brown wood powder. The scent on the stick is softly volatile and quite compelling. Fresh sawdust (cedar, pine, walnut) and bubblegum and bees wax. Oooh. Nice. 

When lit the stick catches with a modest and controlled flame producing no black smoke. The scent on the burn is warm and soft - quite delicate and refined. It echoes the scent on the stick, though in a modest manner, introducing warm honey.  The stick burns for approx 60 minutes. 

I really like this, though am aware that at five years old it's no longer fresh. I'm ordering some fresh. The best UK sources are Amazon - the one I mentioned five years ago is still good, though the price is now £2.75 (which includes postage, so still excellent value),  and a new Amazon source offers six different Nandita plus a wooden holder for £8.99 including postage.  

Oooh, even at five years old, this Black Gold is still delightful. I'm holding it at 40 until I review a fresh packet. Though it could go higher. 

Date: Sept 2023    Score: 40 

Second review

The stick has a yummy vanilla, honey, sandalwood and fruit aroma. Quite moreish. It's quite gentle on burning, with just hints of prickly halmaddi. The main impression is of soft fragrant woods  - cedar and sandal and a wisp of agar.  Very likable.


Date: July 2018   Score: 40

First review

A very gentle masala incense, "exclusively" distributed by Wonder Incense in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.  While they can be bought in bulk from UK wholesalers like eApollo and The Indian Connection, getting single packets online is tricky, and can be expensive - the best deal seems to be this one for £1.99 on Amazon.

There is milk chocolate, cinnamon, agarwood, balsamic vinegar, honey, beech wood, burnt wool, etc in the aroma. It's warm and woody with spice overtones. Gentle. Very gentle. Perhaps too gentle. It can burn away quite close by and be forgotten. While pleasant, it doesn't really develop into anything significant or heavenly. I like this, and can see it as being useful for when I want a comforting, calming, pleasant woody incense that isn't going to be heavy or intrusive.


Date: May 2018  Score: 35

***

Nandita of Mumbai

Reviewed on Rauchfahne

101 Incenses You Must Try