Shekhar's Natural Handmade Incense Sticks Nag Champa

 

Bought for £1 from an Indian clothes bazaar in Southampton. I can find no information about Shekhar online. He/they have an outlet at the Mapusa Municipal Market in Goa, (near the Fruit Market, behind Danqui Watch Repairers) near where Ramakrishna's Incense can be found, and the styling of the packets is very similar. 

This is proper job masala - a fragrant charcoal-paste hand-rolled around a plain bamboo splint and then coated in a brown melnoorva powder to prevent the moist sticks from gluing together. The scent on the stick is quite sublime, and is clearly delivered by an essential oil. The paste is soft and yielding - presumably kept moist by the essential oil. The scent is perfumed, mildly sweet, faintly woody - leaning toward sandalwood blended with agarwood, some vanilla, a far echo of coconut, underscored by musk or patchouli  - it's really lovely. It's more in the direction of an oodh or bakhoor than a nag champa, which would be flowery and based on magnolia - though in my experience, "nag champa" incenses are more of a marketing name than a description of a reliable champaca scent, and could be almost anything. 

This has a very slow and steady burn - around an hour. As is often the case with incense, the scent on the burn is not quite like that on the stick. The scent on the stick is a little sharp, quite woody, but a light wood, and has elements of halmaddi. It is a very pleasant scent that gently but firmly informs the room. We like it. It's not overpowering - but leaves a pleasing, uplifting, and cleansing scent in the room. It's not one to grab attention, but does a good job. It's a decently made and effective everyday masala incense. I'll be happy to get some more by Shekhar. 

Date: Nov 2022   Score: 38 

Nag Champa