Radha Madhav Tulsi / Vrinda Chandan

  

Day 2 of the mammoth Gokula binge - reviewing all the old Gokula samples I have in one session. The samples (mostly) date from May 2013 so are not indicative of what a fresh pack would be like. Masala incense does last a while, certainly longer than perfumed incense, especially when kept in a cool, dark, airtight space, but some of the higher notes will evaporate over a period of eight years - I am allowing  that up to 15 points could be lost per incense. Some of the higher scoring Gokulas I will buy new once I clear my backlog, and see how they behave when fresh. Meanwhile....

Radha Madhav is a Krishna devotee incense company in Mumbai. It appears that Gokula are the only distributors who import them into the UK. Tulsi and Vrinda mean the same thing - both are Indian words for holy basil, which is related to sweet basil, which is commonly used in the West for cooking. Holy basil is a sacred and medicinal herb in India. 

On the stick this is a very scented incense, with more associations with rose petals than either basil or sandalwood (chandan is sandalwood). It is a sweet, powdery rose petal scent - quite heady, but in a light, joyful, feminine way. There is some essential oil, some volatile peaks, sharp nips of petrol, hints of bitter orange, and then the sandalwood comes through. Not creamy and sweet, nor seductive and woody, but clean and sharp like pine. After the rose petal hit, it does settle into something worth digging at a bit further, but it is not entirely compelling, and heady sweet floral notes are not among my favourite scents. 

The scent on the burn is quite fresh, and is again initially rose petals, then settles into a more herbal area with hints of mint, and - perhaps - basil, but a quiet basil. It is much better on the burn than on the stick. And I'm impressed that this is an eight year old incense - it smells so fresh. Gosh, I wonder how heady this would be when new? After a while the sandalwood comes forward, less sharp and pine like than on the stick, more rounded, embracing a modest creamy sweetness as well as musky woodiness. You know, the more I burn this the more I like it. The chandan/sandalwood is becoming more dominant, but the herbal, mint like qualities of the tulsi/vrinda/holy basil wrap around it to make it more complex and interesting than just the sandalwood alone. 

OK, not a world class incense, but one I would be interested to explore fresher. Gokula's blurb is "Sweet and Floral. This unique combination of Tulsi with Sandalwood creates a soothing fragrance for relaxation", and I think I would agree with that. It is a calming scent. 


Date: Nov 2021   Score: 31 

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Gokula-incense

Radha Madhav Agarbatti