A single stick sample of Om Nagchampa by Fair Trade Incense Works of Mumbai. It's a pleasant charcoal paste perfumed masala (the scent is a combination of dried fragrant ingredients and fragrance oils mixed into a charcoal paste and then machine extruded onto a bamboo stick).
It's an acceptable everyday incense. There's some vibrant and earthy plant like qualities to this - a rough edge, combined with a pleasant, slightly sweet and moderately floral perfume oil based scent.
Nothing special, but nothing offensive either. Not an incense I'm impelled to go out and buy, but I find it pleasant enough to burn. There are some earthy halmaddi notes.
Date: April 2022 Score: 33
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| Fair Trade Incense Works |
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| Nag Champa |
I recently purchased a box of this after hearing positive reviews that the scent harkened back to the glorious Shrinivas Sughandalaya Sai Baba Nag Champa of old. However, like you, I wasn't overly impressed by this one, although the halmaddi notes were reminiscent of the old blue box. Its an ok Nag Champa, not as good as the current Bangalore blue box or the Goluka.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Fair Trade Incense Works are treading a fine line between masala and perfumed incense. Masala scents tend to have a narrow profile and can feel a little dated, especially for younger customers, while perfumed scents have a very wide range, and can copy pretty much any scent, including popular modern perfumes, so are much more popular.
DeleteMasala incense attracts the purists, who are prepared to pay a premium price.
Perfumed incense attracts everyone, except the purists, so sells in volume, but price tends to be competitive.
I am noting a number of incense companies, including the most traditional and revered, are starting to blur the lines between masala and perfumed. Some of this is due to price and availability of the traditional materials, though I expect some of it is also due to the desire to catch a wider audience, and to appeal to everyone.