Nandita Wood Spice Incense Cones

I like Nandita's Wood Spice Natural Incense sticks.  One of my favourite incenses, and has been for some years, so I was interested to try the cones. We find cones to be quite handy - they are easier to deal with, and less messy than sticks. And I find the smoke from a cone to be more concentrated and thus more compelling and attractive than smoke from a stick. But - with a few notable exceptions, such as Goloka Chandan Dhoop Cones and Satya Sandal Dhoop Cones - I don't find the scent from cones to be as heavenly as scent from sticks. The fragrance ingredients may be the same, but either the production method or binding ingredients alter the composition so the scent rarely seems as fresh and compelling. And that is the case here. You can recognise that it's the same scent, but here it is bolder, harsher, dryer, hotter and with a slightly off aroma of something scorching. That's not to say that the cones are bad. Far from it, they are quite attractive. But they don't lift me. The range of scents I get from the stick float in and out in a tantalising and subtle weave - here they seem just plonked on a slab, and they hit with too crude a force.

Date: July 2018  Score: 35

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Nandita of Mumbai