A two stick sample, labelled as Bombay Om, though as far as I'm aware, the Bombay Incense Company is no longer an active brand. Regardless of the branding, this incense was always made by Fair Trade, a private label incense company based just outside Mumbai (Bombay) who also own the Nitiraj brand.
A dry crumbly charcoal paste machine-extruded onto a plain machine cut bamboo splint and then coated in a fine, white or pale grey finishing powder (melnoorva). There is a gentle, modern scent on the stick which comes from a perfume rather than an essential oil or from the any masala ingredients in the charcoal paste. It's cute, feminine, vanilla and soft floral.
The scent on the burn is more woody. Quite soft or faint, but it does gently inform the room. The stick burns evenly with moderate smoke.
Overall a pleasant, though modest everyday perfumed masala incense. There's nothing here to object to, but at the same time nothing to get excited about. It's OK, but not an incense I'd pick out over others, though I'd buy again if there was little choice.
Date: April 2022 Score: 29
Machine made stick. Semi hard coconut-charcoal paste on a machine-cut bamboo splint. The paste has been lightly covered in a fine clay coloured powder. The scent on the stick is perfumed. I'd call this a perfumed incense, though the initial appearance is of a masala style stick. Perhaps a perfumed masala? I like the scent on the stick - it is light, modern, playful, slightly sweet with notes of sherbet, some musk, and the warmth of amber.
The scent on the burn is initially a little disappointing. The delightful perfume on the stick does not initially come through - it is mostly the core material. The burn is very weak, though after a while the perfume scent does start to make itself known, and then it becomes moderately pleasant, the scent wavers, and sometimes it is the core material that dominates. Eventually, it does emerge as a decent incense - the pleasant, warm, sweet amber scent gently informing the room.
Date: Jan 2023 Score: 30
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