Pheonix Import (Mani Bhadra) Frankincense Resin

Frankincense resin from the Dutch distributors Pheonix Import (Mani Bhadra).  £4.40 for 60g from Just Aromatherapy. It comes in a tin with glass top so you can see the resin but it remains fresh. The tins are nice to keep.

I like this. It has a fresh sweet scent slightly flowery slightly citric slightly musty and slightly alcoholic. It is fairly smoky when burned on charcoal, and initially smells of mineral resin, then a church incense aroma kicks in. This is not a heavy scent - it is reasonably light and cleansing. It is less smoky, lighter, and more inclined toward hard mineral notes when burned on my electric burner. More inclined toward the citric with touches of vinegar and rubber. I prefer it burned on charcoal. It seems to need a high heat to bring out the best character.

Date: Aug 2019    Score: 35

***

Frankincense

Satya (Mumbai) Blessings

This is a very sweet and delicious incense. Made by the "bad boy" brother, Nagraj Setty, who after the death of the father and founder, Satyam Setty, took charge of marketing and distributing in Mumbai, and when the two brothers split up in 2014 (not sure why, but Nagraj was the first of the brothers to form a new company - in Sept 2014) Nagraj used his contacts and distribution network to sell incense under the Satya name that was not made in the original Satya factories nor using the original Satya recipes. Quality was poor, and regular buyers of Satya incense were complaining about lower standards, with rumours that the company was no longer using halmaddi. The brother, Balkrishna, who was still making the original Satya incense in the same old way in Bangalore, took Nagraj to court for misleading people, while Nagraj sent out cease and desist orders to American distributors to prevent Balkrishna from selling the original Satya in America. It was all very naughty and messy. But things appear to have settled down now. Incense from both brothers is widely distributed in the UK (not sure about the rest of the world - anyone know?), and I have seen the brothers' incense being sold side by side in at least one shop. And the quality from Nagraj has improved. On blind tests I like incense from Nagraj about the same as that from Balkrishna - sometimes more, though Chrissie always has the nose for the original! I suspect she has the more refined nose. I just like what I like!

Anyway, this is a machine made masala stick. It is very sweet and succulent. Not too heavy. Not too much halmaddi (maybe that's  the significant difference? Maybe Nagraj doesn't use as much halmaddi - which suits me more, as I like my halmaddi in very small does). It's a sweet, warm sandalwood with rich citric notes. I like this a lot.


Date: Aug 2019   Score:  40

I'm having a Satya binge - going through my new stocks, and revisiting previously reviewed packs. This is a modern incense - machine made with modern fragrances. There is little of the traditional masala incense scent or feel about this. This is the direction that incense is going - indeed, probably needs to go: difficult to see how we can continue to ask poor Indian women to hand roll incense for pennies, difficult to see how incense can attract and hold a modern customer base with a limited scent range that you either like or don't like, with little variation, difficult to see how exploitation of the halmaddi tree can continue on a large scale. There will be a market for traditional hand rolled masala incense made with halmaddi, but it's a niche interest, mainly based in America. Suppliers such as Paul of Happy Hari, who had a love of traditional masala incense, find they have trouble competing with modern incense. Modern incenses are not the same as the cheap black charcoal perfumed-dipped incense. Modern incenses have a quality scent, and use modern fragrances, sometimes based on stylish perfumes, or on fun ingredients like baby powder, chocolate cookies, or bubblegum.

Anyway, I wander.... I like this scent. It bears little relation to traditional classic Satya, and is firmly in the modern, baby powder field. I like it a lot.

Date: Nov 2019  Score: 40

***

Satya (Shrinivas Sugandhalaya)

HEM Soham Mogra

This is the second non-perfume-dipped incense I have reviewed from HEM. The other was also part of the Soham series: Soham Dhoop Batti. While the other was also called a dhoop stick (I assume that batti means stick, as in agarbatti), it was a masala stick rather than what I understand to be a dhoop stick, which is a paste incense without a bamboo core. Masala incense is dried ingredients rolled or applied to a bamboo stick, sometimes with essential oils, but the fragrance ingredients tend to be in a dried powdery form rather than a paste, either wet or dried.

So, this is a traditional dhoop - a much older form of incense than the masala or perfumed bamboo sticks called agarbatti or joss sticks. Dhoop is a fragrant paste usually rolled or extruded  into the shape of sticks or small logs; it is the form that travelled through Asia, and is the method still used in Japan, though the dhoop there tends to be very fine dried stick shapes, while the dhoop still created in India tends to be fatter and wetter.

Soham is a Hindu mantra meaning "I am that" - I am part of the universe.

Mogra is, of course, jasmine - a very popular fragrance for incense in India.

This is a modestly pleasant incense. It does smell of incense jasmine, and is quite clean and invigorating. I wish I could say it was more wonderful than the perfumed HEM incense, as I know that incense enthusiasts hate perfumed incense, seeing it as somehow more false and less natural than traditional forms such as masala and dhoop. And here we have one of the oldest and most natural and traditional forms of incense in India, and it is pleasant, but it doesn't rock my world in the same way as HEM's perfumed Frankincense-Myrrh does, nor is it as cute and fun as HEM's Baby Powder.  Yes, it is more wonderful than MOST of HEM's perfumed incense, but not all.  And that has surprised me as well.

On the whole I prefer traditional and natural incense; but I keep an open mind, and I have been surprised sometimes by how much I like a particular perfumed incense, and how bored I can be by an indifferent masala incense. This may not rock my world, but it is a very decent jasmine dhoop.


Date: Aug 2019   Score: 33

***

HEM Corporation

Best jasmine incense

Jasmine v Jasmine (a burn off)

Satya (Mumbai) Golden Era

I bought a big stock of Nagraj Setty's Mumbai Satya incense about a year ago with the intention of comparing them with Balkrishna Setty's Bangalore incense. I am now working my way through them. Most of the packets of Nagraj's incense contain a sample packet of Golden Era.

Warm, sensual, mostly sandalwood, with some wooly halmaddi. Yeah, there's a retro or "golden age" vibe going on with the mix of sandalwood and halmaddi. This is a damn good incense, though it doesn't really rock my boat.


Date: Aug 2019     Score:   36

***

Satya (Shrinivas Sugandhalaya)

Satya (BNG) Patchouli

The scent on the stick is sweet, musky and very dreamy - rather in line with my hippy memories of  patchouli. Indeed, my thought was: This is patchouli! When burning it can at time be rather prickly and dry, and a little flat, but at other times it wafts sweet and glorious.

When compared with Satya (Mumbai) Patchouli Forest,  Nagraj's incense, it initially stands out as more natural, sweeter, and more in line with my expectations of patchouli. But then there are moments when the Patchouli Forest burns sweetly, and that is the one that I like the most.

I wasn't that struck with the Patchouli Forest when I first burned it, but burning it again today, and involving the family in the experience, we all gradually leaned toward Nagraj's incense. Well, Chrissie remained consistent in her liking of  Patchouli Forest, and identified it precisely time and again on several blind tests. Calling the scent of Balkrishna's Patchouli "like that of a man on a bus who has peed his trousers", while  Nagraj Patchouli Forest she found to be like "a field of flowers".

While not using Chrissie's words, nor agreeing with her descriptions, I find myself liking Nagraj's Patchouli Forest  more than Balkrishna's Patchouli, as it is sweeter and muskier and more pleasant. Balkrishna's Patchouli is a little dryer, harshier, and has sharper notes, slightly citric.

Date: Aug 2019    Score:  35 

***

Satya (Shrinivas Sugandhalaya)

Patchouli

Radha Madhav Gopal

A traditional masala incense by Bangalore based manufacturer Radha Madhav, acquired from Gokula-Incense around six years ago, and finally getting round to reviewing! Grief, I have such a big back log....

This is quite a smokey incense. Fairly dry. Some halmaddi, which for me comes over as warm wool, slightly prickly - others have a different experience. This is a fairly sombre scent - there's some herbal notes, and a hint at something almost fleshy, but mostly this is fairly mineral like.

I'm OK with this, but I'm not knocked out. Each to their own. There's nothing wrong with it, it just doesn't rock my boat. It burns nicely with no off-notes, but it just doesn't lift me. I think I prefer something a little sweeter, or more exciting.

Gopal or Gopala is the name given to Krishna when he was a child.


Date: Aug 2019     Score: 29

***

Radha Madhav Agarbatti

Gokula-incense

Gokula Vrindavan Supreme

I have reviewed a Happy Hari Vrindavan Flowers, and a Gokula Vrindavan Flowers (which are the same incense, just different suppliers), and found them to be modestly pleasant floral incense with that generic warm wool scent of a traditional masala incense, particularly one that contains halmaddi. This one is termed "Supreme" so I assume has better quality ingredients, or more essential oil, or more halmaddi. I don't have the other incense to hand to compare, and I'm not sure that it's worth the effort. This is OK stuff, but it doesn't rock my world. If you like masala incense, as I do, then you'll like this for all the reasons you like other masala incense - the warmth,  the way it lingers pleasantly in the house for hours afterwards, and that it feels natural. Yeah, I could burn this again. Good stuff. Not one to excite me personally, but very decent incense that I'd be happy to have again.


Date: Aug 2019    Score:  33

***

Gokula-incense

Flora, Fluxo, and Supreme

Happy Hari Yoga Sutra Asana Sutra

There are stocks of original Happy Hari incense still available. This is a machine made incense in what appears to be a Yoga Sutra series - this must have been Paul's idea of bringing together the popularity of yoga and the popularity of sex to create some form of sensual yoga! He claims this is a masala incense on the packet, and I know that he argued with another incense blogger that just because an incense is machine dipped it doesn't mean it's not masala, but this is a charcoal incense with an impregnated volatile oil as the fragrance bearer. The fragrance here does not come from dried ingredients. Not a masala, but a perfumed incense.

The fragrance is pleasant, and I like this. Not heavenly, but very nice. Top end of Everyday Incense for sure. It's a familiar scent, and I'm trying to pin down what it is. It is mildly citric. Quite clean. It has some of the musky warmth of civet. There's also a touch of wood. It breaks down now and again, and some of the charcoal intrudes. This is not top quality incense, and age has no doubt diminished some of the shine, but it is very pleasant and cleansing.

The Yoga Sutra series

I'm not sure where I got this from. I think it was one of the smoke shops that Paul used to sell to. But a quick look on the internet didn't reveal any current UK stockists [the US site Essence Of The Ages still has stock as of Sept 2023]. But there are Happy Hari items still out there in shops which may not have an internet presence. If you see this one, and it's cheap, go for it, but be aware that it'snot one of the best Happy Hari, and it's not a masala incense.


Date: Aug 2019   Score: 32

Happy Hari Incense

(HMS) Primo Cedarwood / Gokula Gaura Absolute Cedarwood

Sweet with notes of pine more than cedarwood, and suggestive of toilet cleaners, which is not the most romantic of associations to have when burning incense. The Gaura branded Absolute Cedarwood is the same incense as Primo Cedarwood, and is made by the highly respected Haridas Madhavdas family of Pune (HMS), so it's a little disappointing that the cedarwood, a favourite scent of mine, should end up being so ordinary. However, it seems that others have also been let down by some iterations of Primo incense.

This is an OK, but fairly ordinary incense. Reflecting on my experiences with cedarwood incense, and I'm wondering if the idea of cedarwood excites me more than the reality. I like the scent of cedarwood, but I'm not convinced I've yet had a proper cedarwood experience with any incense I've burned. I need perhaps to look back though my reviews and see if there have been many which have lived up to my expectations.

Actually, the more I burn it the more I get into it, and the more the cedarwood scent emerges with its subtle warmth and evocative spice.....


Date: Aug 2019    Score:  33

***

Haridas Madhavdas Sugandhi

A cedarwood sampling

Flora, Fluxo, and Supreme

Gokula Shyam

Second review - scroll down for earlier

It was nearly five years ago I reviewed this warm, perfumed, gently spicy and mildly sweet and yummy Shyam masala incense. I liked it so much I placed it in my World Class category. Then, because it has been there so long, I moved it into purgatory while awaiting a fresh review. Unfortunately, in the meantime, Gokula have run out of stock, though offer Cinnamon as an alternative. 

I still like this - there's a pleasant cinnamon biscuit appeal about it. There's curious herbal notes pointing toward fresh mown grass, mint, and hinting at marihuana leaves, as well as some floral notes. I do like this a lot, though I'm not getting the ecstatic romantic fantasy I experienced in 2019. Perhaps it needs the heat of a late summer rather than the cool of late winter.....

Nudged down slightly.....


Date: Feb 2024   Score:  43

First review

Very sweet and dreamy. There's a distinct sense of sweet woody cinnamon about this. It's a very enticing and somewhat exciting, invigorating, youthful incense. Joyful. Enthusiastic. A provider of energy. Gosh I love this. There's something green here as well - a warm summery growth. Life by the river. Oooh, you could chase this incense into tomorrow and wake up refreshed. This is a memory of a love affair in the sun when young and brimming with naïve enthusiastic and ecstatic joy at the world. Life, love and young lust....

Dream it. 


Date: Aug 2019    Score: 45

***

Gokula-incense

Gokula Gaura Radharani

A sweet and fruit scent initially, then some prickly damp sheep's wool, then some fermented fruit with an awareness of vintage beer. Mild turmeric and that scent, yes that scent which is just out of my reach. Tantalisingly familiar and evocative and specific and uncommon but just beyond my grasp. Vanilla, a bit. Something a bit floral. Tea. Black. Scented. Rose scented tea? Yes, that's it. Rose scented tea. How lovely.

This is a warm and beautiful incense. I'd like more of this. This could be my current fave.....


Date: Aug 2019    Score: 46

***

Gokula-incense

Radha Madhav Damodar

This has soft herbal and floral notes. It's a gentle and discrete incense with an inviting and soothing woody warmth. The merest touch of musky sexuality. Good stuff, though not overwhelming.

The sticks made by Radha Madhav, an incense company based in Bangalore, and are distributed by Gokula in the UK, who are currently (Aug 2019) selling them at half price.

Half price at £5.99 for 200g
from Gokula

Date: Aug 2019    Score: 37

***

Radha Madhav Agarbatti

Gokula-incense

Gokula Gauranga

Proper old school incense. Not too sweet, and not too strong. A little dry, and with just enough halmaddi to prickle my eyes, but not so much as to cause offense. All in all a gentle and calming incense which gradually informs a room and creates a sense of reassurance and strength.

I'm burning this now as I've just become aware that Mukunda dasa at Gokula is changing his suppliers. He's now bringing in Vietnamese incense, and most of his traditional Indian supplies have gone. Some Gauranga is still available (and at reduced prices) so after confirming that it's a decent incense I'm grabbing some before it goes forever!

Reduced price of £1.25 

Date: Aug 2019    Score: 39

***

Gokula-incense

Gokula Everest

Awesome!


Date: May 2018    Score: 43 

  

I'm doing a  mammoth Gokula binge - reviewing all the Gokula samples I have in one session. Gulp! I've come back to this one as my original review isn't exactly very detailed!  Everest is part of Gokula's Classic range, which are in red packs. It is available at £2.95 for 20gms. The Classic range are sold at a lower price than the Connoisseur range, so presumably are cheaper to source, and likely cheaper to manufacture (or are more popular, and so economies of scale allow them to be sold at a lower price). I don't know where Mark of Gokula sources his incense; however, it is likely that they are sold elsewhere in India, and may be distributed by others in the UK and USA - though I doubt if anyone is selling these incenses at the low, "Earthly", prices that Mark does.  If you haven't already, I urge you to visit the Gokula website and to try out a few packs.  

The stick is quite dark and messy looking. The fragrant ingredients appear to be embedded in the makko (or jiggit) and charcoal paste, with only a fine covering of powder, which some sources call melnoorva. Apparently this fine powder is to help dry the incense and stop it from sticking to other sticks. I always thought that the powder was just fragrance! The scent on the stick is complex - quite moody, intense, and intriguing. Agarwood and horse stables: straw, wood, oats, and urine. The scent during the burn is solid, though I'm not experiencing the "Awesome" of my reaction over three years ago, which I can only assume is due to the age of the incense, and that much of the finer fragrances have evaporated. This centres mainly on the deeper aromas - it is musky, woody, dark, sombre, with some less attractive sense of burning or singing. 

I don't think this review is actually going to add much to my earlier one, other than the information that fresh stocks are most certainly to be preferred over older ones.  If scoring now, I would put this somewhere in Everyday incense, but I will keep the original score, and seek out a fresh pack when I have finally caught up with my backlog! 

Date: Nov 2021   Score: 25 (not applied) 

***

Gokula-incense

 Incense Ratings - Top of the Dhoops!