Incense in The Wind: Koya's Agarbathi

Thursday, 29 December 2022

Koya's Agarbathi

Koya's was founded in Bangalore in 1970 by Ahamed Kutti, who came from Kerala in Southwest India. The three best selling brands are Vishnu Leela, Maya Supreme, and Intimate. They are a well established Indian incense company with a wide range of products including perfumed and natural/masala incense sticks, and currently export to several Asian countries. They don't yet have an export deal with the West, though some incense was available in America through Amazon, and received a positive response.

Their perfumed incenses are decent quality - long lasting, no off-notes, and with attractive perfumes. They are decent everyday perfumed incenses. But it is the masala range that has really impressed me. The everyday masalas are damn good, and excellent value for money based on their domestic prices, while some of the premium masalas, such as their Rasta and Nirvana, are world class, and are either in my Heavenly collection or my Wall of Fame.

I can't recall why Koya's sent me some samples back in 2021 - I seem to have the early part of our communication missing, and the guy dealing with me, Junaid, has moved on, so I don't wish to bother him again. But it is possible they were looking for some feedback on how their incense would be received in the West. I found their perfumed incense professionally made, long-lasting, heady, and generally good quality everyday room-fresheners. I found their masala incense great, and a number of them I consider world class. Yet they still don't appear to have an outlet in the West. I know that Eugene of Bhagwan approached them to set up a rebadge deal, but they were only interested in selling under their own name - I have full respect for that. I did consider doing a deal with them, and they said they would sell to me at factory price provided I pay for shipping. But I pulled out because my health and energy is variable. It's a shame that such a decent quality incense house should not be available in the West.