Hari Darshan Red Rose Incense Cones

A standard everyday perfumed cone from Hari Darshan, part of a box of 12 different fragrances from Amazon for £14. All the cones in the range are a decent size and burn slowly and consistently. The cones are hand made from a charcoal and wood paste. 

Hari Darshan make reasonably pleasant everyday perfumed incense - either perfumed-charcoal or perfumed-masala (a term I'm using to classify incense that gives the appearance of a masala incense - that is, using dried fragrant ingredients - though the main - or only - fragrant scent comes from a liquid fragrance which may be man-made).  They are what they are. They don't make elegant or refined incense, but they make cheap and cheerful incense to brighten up a room. 

This incense cone is typical Hari Darshan.   It produces a bright, perfumed, man made scent that approximates the heady notes of rose petals in the summer. If burning with the thought in mind that this is a casual room freshener, the cone serves its purpose well. It's kind of like a room air freshener spray. Though I prefer using incense to using sprays or plug ins. I don't know why. I also prefer using incense than using those diffusers. Again, I don't know why. I guess I just like incense, even cheap perfumed incense. 

We use cones in the toilet. Easy and simple. Use the toilet, light a cone. The finished cone is easy to tip into the toilet and flush away, and it is so compact it doesn't take up space, or leave a mess. Hari Darshan cones are fine for use in the toilet. This Red Rose is fine for use in the toilet. It can also be used in the house to brighten up a room. Though we tend to use other incense for that. One downside I have noted with cones over sticks is that perfumed cones, such as this, tend to leave an ashy scent after they have finished. 

Rose scents are not amongst my favourites. This one is OK. But I prefer a musky or woody aroma. 

Date: April 2023    Score: 22   

***

Hari Darshan

Best rose incense

Padmini Sai Kasturi

A single stick of Padmini Sai Kasturi from SamsaSpoon who runs the PlumeOfSmoke blog, as part of an incense exchange we did.  Kasturi is deer musk - originally sourced by cutting  the musk glands off a slaughtered male deer, these days the scent is typically prepared from plants and resins such as myrrh, patchouli and lemongrass. The Sai of the name, and the image, are references to Sathya Sai Baba, who stated that he was a reincarnation of Sai Baba, who is referenced in a number of incenses, including  Sri Sai Flora and Satya Sai Baba Nag Champa. 

The stick is composed of a soft, dry, crumbly paste (unclear if wood powder or charcoal powder - possibly a mix of both), which has been hand rolled onto a machine cut undyed bamboo splint. There is a liquid scent on the stick - soapy, mild alcohol, pine, delicate, perfumed, faint patchouli. Mildly attractive. 

I've been recently looking for (and often finding) black smoke when a stick is first lit. I've read a claim that this indicates that the stick contains DEP or some other chemical. When lighting this stick there is some black smoke until the flame is blown out.  But this seems to happen even with some pure incense, so I am unsure if the claim is true. I suspect that when the stick is alight it burns quickly, so there is a degree of material not being fully burned, and the soot or denser particles of this partial burn will colour the smoke black. 

Anyway, when settled there is a range of mainly dry, sombre, brittle scents. It doesn't feel pure. I get the impression that the bulk of the aroma is coming from a man made scent.  The aroma is not assertive - it introduces itself to the room and wanders around softly. Some elements that were on the stick are present, though ghostly - faint soap, faint wood, but mostly the aroma is vague smoke. Now and again there is some faint green patchouli with a hint of mint. 

All in all not an incense that I find attractive, and not an incense that is drawing me in.   It's not offensive, but it's not doing much. 

Date: April 2023   Score: 18  

***

Padmini

Musk

SamsaSpoon Homemade Indian Frankincense & Cardamom

 

SamsaSpoon who runs the PlumeOfSmoke blog sent us some homemade incense. I've been burning a fair bit of perfumed-charcoal and perfumed-masala incense recently, so I wanted to get back to something pure and nitty gritty. I'm glad I selected this Indian Frankincense & Cardamom. It's impressive. Best homemade stuff I've burned. Proper job incense. It reminds me of Japanese incense: these are very thin dhoop sticks (there's no bamboo core); these appear to be hand rolled, though some other method could have been used [Samsa tells me she used a fondant extruder]. They are very thin and delicate.  The stick is all dry, with no evidence of any liquid fragrance, though some essential oil could have been used. There's no aroma on the stick, so any oils would likely be a minimum. 

It burns very nicely. Consistently, slowly - no problems. The formulation works. Like Japanese incense the scent is delicate - in our house there was one complaint that it was too faint, though that was later retracted. It is, however, an incense that works best just drifting on the wind, catching you unexpectantly, like a scent on a person: an overpowering use of personal perfume can be an affront, but a subtle hint can be fascinating, attracting attention and lighting up the senses.  

It's a dry, spicy incense, which is not usually my thing (I like richness and sweetness), but I do like this a lot. It's woody, spicy, and enlivening.  I love that after it has burned the scent is there in the room for hours afterwards, and it's a good lingering scent as the best dried ingredient masala incense always is. There's no real off notes, no burning (well, fairly rarely, there's a little too much focus on smoke), no ashy nonsense. 

It's a masculine scent, and it's quite sombre, and the profile is fairly narrow, so this is not going to fly away on my favourite list, nor get a really high score, but I find it compelling, attractive, cleansing, enlivening (giving energy), and satisfying. And this is an incense I'd like to have in my house for days when what I want is something pure, cleansing, and attractive.  Without a doubt the best homemade incense I've burned, and - eventually I've come round to it: one of the best incenses I've burned, period. 



Date: April 2023    Score: 42 

Padmini Cinnamon Incense

 

Basic perfume-dipped incense from Padmini, who tend to make borderline bargain basement perfumed incense - though they also make some rather pleasant Dhoop Sticks . For the first few years of this blog I tended to like their perfumed incense, and then each time I re-reviewed them, the score went down. I don't think this was anything to do with Padmini products getting worse - I think it was more to do with my increased experience and knowledge of other and better quality incense. 

These sticks are rather scrappily hand rolled charcoal paste on hand cut undyed bamboo splints which vary in thickness - some being quite thin and floppy. A small amount of tree bark powder had been sprinkled on the charcoal paste to stop the sticks from gluing together as they dry. The finished product looks rather unattractive and cheap. 

There is a modest scent on the stick - vaguely cedar wood, pencil shavings, dried onion, and what I could be convinced is cinnamon. It is what it is. The scent on the burn is not quite offensive, but is ambling in that direction.  It smells of burning, of onion, of garden smoke, and possibly faint cinnamon. 

Not impressed. I'm not seeing much use for this other than to keep the flies out of the outhouse during the summer. 


Date: April 2023   Score: 18 


 

So, I was done with this incense and ready to move it to the outhouse, but lazily left the packet on my desk, and casually burned a few sticks as I was doing other things, merely because I wanted the warmth and comfort of some incense, and this pack was the nearest thing that had already been reviewed and so could be lit up and ignored. 

You know, sometimes incense is best just ignored, or left in a separate room, or in a far corner. Sometimes incense works its magic best when it just drifts softly on the wind with no thought or expectation. It's just there like a familiar friend who doesn't need to talk - just being there is enough. Like the breathing of a lover at night; the warmth of another body; someone's hand holding yours. 

This is not a great incense - I've not had a sudden revelation that this incense is heavenly, but it is better than the dismissive 18 I gave it yesterday. It holds more of a pleasant scent than mere wood burning (or onions!). It's an OK lower end average everyday incense. It's acceptable to burn casually. It's not an incense to study or think about or to burn before guests come round. But to add some warmth to a room, or to do some of the other functional non high level things that incense can do (cover up bad smells, deter flies, add character to a place), then this is OK at a reasonable price. Packs are sold in various countries, usually at less than 10p per stick. Mine came from a German shop - Aqasha.com - priced at €1.89 for 20 sticks. 


Date: April 2023   Score: 23 

***

Padmini

Best cinnamon incense

Aanchal Agarbatti (Dasgupta / Emporium) 3 in 1 Mogra Rose Sandalwood (brand closed)

 

A pack of cheap perfumed charcoal incense imported by EmporiumUK [closed 2021], and sold by Just Aromatherapy for 98p. There is a brand name of Aanchal Agarbatti, though the manufacturer is shown as Dasgupta in Kolkata (Calcutta).  

There are three scents, individually wrapped and marked. And then wrapped again in another plastic bag to help keep the perfume from evaporating.  We have Rose, Sandalwood, and Mogra (jasmine) - three standard incense scents.  The sticks have been messily hand rolled onto hand cut and undyed bamboo splints, and then dipped in what is clearly a synthetic liquid fragrance.  This is the stuff that people tend to dismiss as "perfume dipped". The splints are of varying thickness, with some being very thin and floppy. Charcoal powder had dirtied the bare ends of the splints, suggesting that these sticks have been made messily at speed. 

The scents on the sticks are chemical and volatile; there is some awareness of the named scent, with the Mogra being closest to the intended scent, and the Sandalwood being the least recognisable.  On the burn Rose is warm, vague, some vegetable matter; not offensive, but there's little here to actually like.  The Mogra is standard bargain basement perfumed-dipped incense. There is the scent of chemical jasmine. It's not unacceptable, but it is not pleasant either. It exists. There is some warmth. There is some awareness of jasmine. It can burn casually in the outhouse to cover up bad smells. No problem. But it's not an incense to use for special occasions. The Sandalwood is the best on the burn. It is almost attractive. There is a warm, sweet scent which approximates sandalwood, though also hovers around rose, pine disinfectant, chemical powder drain cleaner. 

All in all, these are cheap sticks which are fine for covering up bad smells in the toilet or outhouse, but not for anything meaningful in the living areas of the house.  

Date: April 2023   Score:  20 

***

 What's The Best Incense In The World?

Emporium incense
(Own brand label
out of business)

Heera Khalija Premium Masala Incense

 

"Premium Masala Incense - Made of Natural Herbs". Cost 85p for a pack of 15 sticks from an Indian corner shop. This is good stuff.  Hand rolled charcoal paste on a machine cut and green dyed bamboo splint, then coated in a fluffy covering of fine powder. The scent on the stick is from a liquid fragrance, and is attractive. It's kind of like a coconut shampoo smell, with notes of vanilla, frangipani, and sandalwood. Nice. 

The scent on the burn is pretty much the same as on the stick. There's perhaps more fruit and sandalwood and somewhat less coconut and less of the feel of a shampoo. There's some sense of  masala - a sense of petals and herbs being burned, though faint - this does lean more in the direction of a perfumed incense. There is a distinct perfumey feel about the fragrance. 

It burns well - reasonably slow and steady. This is an excellent value for money incense. Quite likeable as a moderate decent incense. I like this. Not heavenly, or something that excites. But it does a good job at a great price and produces a pleasing aroma in the house.  

Date: April 2023    Score:  35 

Heera (P&B Foods Ltd)

Tulasi Nag Champa & Sandalwood Incense Sticks

Tulasi have a range of masala style sticks which they have catalogued as Nag Champa Delights. There are 14 scents in the range - the leading one of which is simply Tulasi Nag Champa. That is a very fine nag champa style incense which I like a lot. The rest of the range use the nag champa name, added to another scent - as in Nag Champa & Rose, which I also enjoyed. In all three of the scents I have burned so far, the main aroma is carried by a liquid fragrance - a decent quality liquid fragrance, either a proper perfume or an essential oil, perhaps even an absolute, though at the price point, probably not. 

 

The full range of Nag Champa Delights

The scent on the stick is candy sweet with some rose (Turkish delight?) and gently sharp citric notes, plus an earthy edge a little like civet (cat pee) - there are other notes to play around with, it's a surprisingly inviting and interesting scent, though not one I would mark as heavenly. It's interesting and pleasant. I like interesting. 

The scent on the burn is a little more modest and woody.  I'm not sure of the relationship with nag champa in the scent, as it is mainly sandalwood - I'm not picking up much in the way of floral, let alone the more distinctive joy of champaca.  It is possible that there is some nag champa or simply champaca in the blend, but that I'm not picking it up.  The sandalwood scent is, however, warm and pleasant. 

I intend at some point doing a re-review and comparison of the whole series. Meanwhile, I'm marking this, and all the other Nag Champa Delights, as 35 - midway in my "Enjoyable, decent quality scents" ranking. 

Date: April 2023   Score: 35 

***

More Tulasi reviews

Reviewed on Rauchfahne

Tulasi Nag Champa Incense Sticks

 

Tulasi have a range of nag champa sticks, such as the Nag Champa & Rose, where nag champa is blended with other scents; this is a straight nag champa.  Straight from the pack it gives the appearance of  proper job masala sticks, and I love the scent - proper nag champa: sweet and sexy with that awesome blend of creamy sandalwood and light floral champaca.  

The stick has a now-dry charcoal paste which has been tightly hand rolled on a machine-cut orange dyed bamboo splint. It has been modestly covered in a wood powder. Some manufacturers apply a generous fluffy amount of powder, others barely any, and others still, as here, have the paste fully covered, but with no excess.

There are elements to the scent both on the stick and on the burn that is suggestive of dried ingredients being burned. Qualities that I associate with the scent of dried ingredients being burned. A kind of greener, more natural, heavier, slower and more lingering scent. So these sticks have both dried fragrant ingredients and a liquid fragrance. My assumption is that the dried ingredients are likely to be the sandalwood, while the liquid fragrance is an absolute or essential oil of champaca. The blend is lovely. Burned a couple of sticks (they are not long burners) and liked them. For me they have that wonderful blend of wood and floral which is at the heart of a good nag champa. The liquid fragrance appears to be decent quality - perhaps not an absolute at the price point, but at least a decent essential oil. 

And now I think it would be fun to do a Nag Champa v Nag Champa burn off - see which Nag Champa is top of the dhoops! 

I intend at some point doing a re-review and comparison of the whole series. Meanwhile, I'm marking this, and all the other Nag Champa Delights, as 35 - midway in my "Enjoyable, decent quality scents" ranking. 

Date: April 2023   Score: 35 

***

More Tulasi reviews

Nag Champa

Reviewed on Rauchfahne

Balaji Bakhoor Premium Incense Sticks

   

Third review - scroll down for earlier reviews

I love this instantly - heady, woody, musky, sexy with feminine floral notes weaving through, which cool and balance the masculine base notes, and add sophistication and interest to what could otherwise be a somewhat overbearing scent. There's awareness of candy sweetness and rose, like Turkish delight, and honey, which really lifts this. This is not a scent for everyone - this really is a big, overbearing beast of strong wood notes. And while it does centre on and revolve around the concept of bakhoor (wood chips soaked in aromatic oils), it's not - for me - completely on target. It's a little dry and lacking in the richness I get from bakhoor.

I had pushed the score up to 46 on my previous review, which would normally put in straight into my Top Drawer World Class Incense listing, but my current rule is that incense which gets such a score is first put into the Purgatory listing until I have done another review after at least a month has passed.  So now is the time to confirm if this is moved into the Top Drawer or into a lesser listing. I am giving this a score of  41, which puts it into my Heavenly Incense listing. There is a degree of inconsistency between sticks, and during the burn itself. This can be fun, and there is a delight when the stick gets to a positive point in the formulation and some gorgeous scents are released, but less fun when it gets to a harsh point, and it just smells of burning.  On the whole I love this, but the inconsistency, that it presents as a bakhoor, but misses that target (better if named something vague but pointing in the right direction like Arabian Forest), and that it can be a little dry holds it back from me placing on my Top Drawer list. 

Date: Oct 2023   Score: 41↓

Second review

This is a stunning incense. Very heady and smoky, so be aware. This is designed for India with its heat, open windows, and various competing aromas, not for enclosed, cool, neutral Western homes. As they say with fireworks, light and stand well back! 

Stick is 9 inches, with 7 inches of hard black paste very neatly and expertly hand-rolled onto a plain bamboo splint, and very sparsely coated in a fine reddish brown wood powder. The scent on the stick is propelled by intensely cool menthol, searing through the nostrils. The scent is woody, masculine, cologne, sexy, compelling - just slightly spoiled by the menthol volatility.  The impression is that a reasonably decent agarwood oil has been used, but then cut a little too much with DEP.  When lit the stick burns greedily and fierce, producing a lot of black smoke until the flame is blown out. 

The scent on the burn is warm, welcoming, sexy, musky, woody, divine, confident, protective, reassuring, seductive. This would create an appropriate atmosphere for seduction, or just for feeling warm and protected. It also produces an awesomely attractive scent. I really like this. I think I was somewhat mean when I burned this in April, but reading my notes it seems that these sticks are variable/inconsistent. On this visit, it is mainly the agarwood that is coming through on the burn, and I am at this moment very receptive to its charm. Yes. Nice one. 

I'm marking this up and putting it in Purgatory to see what happens on the next burn....

Date: Sept  2023   Score: 46↑ 

First review

Impressive looking packet - sells for 95 rupees in the domestic market, which is around £1 here in the UK, though is actually more like £3 or £4 in equivalent terms (I paid just over £2 from the excellent Aavyaa.com, with just  £3 shipping charge for around 30 assorted packets - and, even though they understandably have put up their international shipping costs since my purchase in Feb, they still provide a great value service to those not living in India).  [Oct 2023: Vishesh, owner of Aavyaa, has adjusted the shipping costs, so the more you buy the less he charges, and purchases over £50 are shipped free).

I have an interest in Balaji because some of their scents are on point for my taste for rich and indulgent incense (though some are a little dry, so the company can be variable).  I particularly liked their Balaji Red Premium Flora Sticks, and have been hunting for something similar from them. This appeared to promise the same experience, though hasn't hugely impressed me (yet). 

The sticks are semi-dry charcoal paste with binders and fragrant ingredients hand rolled around a plain machine-cut bamboo splint. The paste has been thinly covered in powdered tree bark (jiggat or nurva) to stop the sticks from gluing together as they dry. A liquid fragrance has been applied to the stick at some point (either as a dip at the end, or poured into the charcoal paste during the blending). the scent is volatile, alcoholic, with sharp notes of pine disinfectant whilst also having a warm sandalwood aroma. On the whole it's not appealing to me, and tickles my nose. 

The scent during the burn is pleasant with a warm woodiness. There is, though little sense of the rich, sweet, sexy, indulgent, musky agarwood or oodh that is the basis for bakhoor.  There is plenty of smoke, and plenty of presence, but little in the way of bakhoor - a scent I adore. There is an inconsistency in the burn so I have had sticks going out, and sticks burning hot and fast. I love the smoke it produces - great swirls of light grey patterns, but I am put off by the smokiness in the scent. It's not all bad, as overall there is a velvet warmth with hints of the exotic and the orient. I think there is oodh in the blend, but it may have been been cut with a cheaper scent to keep costs down. 

Hmm. The more I burn this the more I like it. 

Date: April 2023   Score: 31 

***

Balaji Agarbatti Company

The best agarwood incense

India luxury box incense

Balaji Chandan Pure Mysore Sandal Sticks

Second review - scroll down for earlier review

 

I had been somewhat dismissive of this incense when I reviewed it back in April. I casually burned a stick a few days ago and was really impressed.  Did it again yesterday, and was again delighted. So here we are returning to Balaji's Chandan incense to give it a proper review. 

The packet has a cool, classic design evoking old India with a gold print of a regal elephant and howdah on a background coloured to look like a strip of sandalwood. The sticks are 9 inches, with around 6 1/2 inches of very neatly hand-rolled firm but crumbly black paste on a plain machine cut bamboo splint with the ends dyed green. The sticks are so expertly rolled they give the appearance of being machine extruded. The sticks are finished with a meagre and variable amount of fine brown powder, which gives a scruffy and somewhat unpleasant appearance. There is a volatile aroma on the stick which is rich and warm and woody though not necessarily pleasant or unpleasant - it hovers on the borderline. It's mildly interesting and somewhat compelling, and I edge more toward liking it than disliking it, though I can see why I edged away from it in April. It's kind of dark and twisted and gives the impression more of a Satanic agarwood than that of a creamy sandalwood. 

When lit the flame burns strongly, producing black smoke. When the flame is blown out a soft unfolding grey smoke rises alternating between dull grey and silver grey with touches of blue and brown. The scent is variable. Some sticks are profound, while others - such as the one I have burning right now - are hot, smoky and dull. Something I have noted with Balaji is that I have variable experiences within the same packet, indeed, sometimes within the same stick. I have lit a fresh stick, and I am having the same negative experience. I'm wondering now if I am too close to the stick, and am expecting it to work too quickly. The times when I have enjoyed this Chandan is when the sticks have been burned a little distance away, and I have not been paying attention, so it is the more established fumes that I pick up rather than the hot fresh ones. I have placed it a distance behind me, and will get on with other things to see what happens. 

I have been curious about the emphasis that people sometimes put on sandalwood coming from Mysore. There appear to be a variety of reasons. The first is that Mysore was the first state in India to distil sandalwood oil, and the government owned and regulated production, so it was the first Indian sandalwood available and commercially distributed. The second is that the Mysore sandalwood tree is Santalum album, which has a high percentage of the alpha santalol compound which is the main active ingredient, and which research indicates has a calming influence.  The album tree grows elsewhere in India and Southeast Asia, though production and distillation has been established for longer and greater in Mysore than elsewhere. The main competitor to sandalwood from the album tree, or Indian sandalwood, is Santalum spicatum or Australian sandalwood. Spicatum doesn't produce as much alpha santalol, though has extra scents, mostly earthy and spicy, which some people prefer, and the whole of the tree can be used in production of oil, while the sapwood of the Indian sandalwood tree cannot be used, and has to be laboriously removed. 

Meanwhile Balaji Chandan Pure Mysore has been quietly burning away behind me, sometimes producing earthy, spicy, dark and mysterious sandalwood scents, and sometimes producing odd burning mushroom and nylon scents, and sometimes both at the same time. I don't know where I am right now, because I have burned this incense and found it delightful, I have burned it and found it unattractive, and have burned it and found it both delightful and unattractive. If nothing else, this incense is interesting.  

Date: Oct 2023   Score: 31 

First review

A hard, brittle charcoal paste with binders and fragrant ingredients expertly hand rolled onto a plain machine-cut bamboo splint which has been tipped in a green dye for in-house identification. There is a modest amount of tree bark powder applied to help prevent the sticks gluing together as they dry. There is an unclear scent of liquid fragrance on the stick - it's not a hugely attractive scent, hovering around pine disinfectant, wood polish, and old spices. 

The burn is steady, though I'm not finding the scent attractive. There's an aroma of burning, some vague warmth, wood, dry spices. It's lacking the heady richness I like about Balaji. I've checked, and I got this pack in August 2021, so it's not fresh, fresh; even so, I would have expected it to stand up better than this. Ho hum. I'm somewhat disappointed as I like sandalwood, and was hoping for something better from a packet which says: "Pure Mysore Sandal Sticks", and "The Fragrance gives the Feel of Sandal Oil".  I suspect that these sticks relied on a liquid fragrance which has dried out. The paste is quite hard.  Shame. 

Date: April 2023   Score: 21 

***

Balaji Agarbatti Company

Sandalwood

Heera Sai Baba Nag Champa Premium Masala Incense

 

A standard proper job masala nag champa. Excellent value for money at 85p for 15gms (approx. 12 - 14 sticks). It's not a particularly exciting blend, but it burns moderately well (a little too fast and hot at times, but nothing serious), and gently informs the room with a pleasant, warm, woody scent. There's a little too much wood compared to floral fragrance to make this more than an average nag champa, and there's certainly nothing special in the burn. The scent on the stick, however, is a little more interesting, as there's some dark fruit notes, like blackcurrant,  which offer a promise that is sadly not achieved on the burn. 

Overall, a decent value for money lower end everyday warm, pleasant masala stick. 

Date: April 2023   Score:  29 

Heera (P&B Foods Ltd)

Nag Champa

Heera Pure Chandan

 

Heera is a brand of PB Foods who import and wholesale Indian products in the UK and Europe. The incense they sell is good quality, proper job masala at good value prices. They can be bought from various online Indian stores, or at a local Indian corner shop. This 15g pack was bought from a corner shop in Southampton for 85p. 

It is a standard proper job masala - a soft, crumbly charcoal paste with binders and fragrant ingredients has been hand rolled around a plain machine-cut bamboo splint which has then been tipped with a pink dye (for in-house identification so the wrong scent doesn't get put in a box), and coated with noorva (usually unfragranced powdered tree bark, used partly to stop the sticks from gluing together when drying, and partly for aesthetic appearance). A liquid fragrance has been used - an essential oil or perfume. 

The liquid fragrance makes a positive impression on the stick - fruity, oily, floral, heady. The scent shifts around - sometimes its quite marine, then it's quite woody - but its always quite bright, fresh, and compelling. 

It has a fairly steady, consistent burn (though at times can go too fast); and, when settled, it releases a warm and generous, but not assertive, fragrance which informs several attached rooms, and leaves a woody, calming warmth for several hours. The scent on the burn is more focused and settled than on the stick, and is decidedly sandalwood.  It is clearly a masala sandalwood scent. Not the most refined or top quality, but far from the worse. This is a decent job sandalwood. It's a little prickly or peppery with a suggestion that halmaddi has been used to boost the sandalwood scent, though it's not harsh. Sometimes it can burn too fast or hot, and there's an element of smoke or burning, but just a touch. 

On the whole this is a decent everyday sandalwood masala. It's perhaps a little too focused and singular for my taste, and lacks either the delightful sexy sweetness or the exciting raw earthiness that really attracts me and holds my attention. I would have preferred if the burn could have developed on the scent on the stick, as that is quite fascinating, but it's OK, and at the price is excellent value for money. 

Date: April 2023   Score:  34 

Heera (P&B Foods Ltd)

Sandalwood

GP Industries Ruh Amber

 

A sample stick from GP Industries, a new incense company to me. They are based in the city of Shimoga in Karnataka, and their best known brand is Pandhari (which I have bought from an eBay company that was recommended to me on Reddit and will review at some point). 

A tightly hand rolled soft crumbly charcoal paste on a machine-cut plain bamboo splint, coated with a woody melnoorva powder. The main aroma on the stick is from a liquid fragrance. It is a musky, sensual scent - very appealing. Wood and floral notes. Fairly neutral scent that could be worn as a perfume by men or women. Musk dominates for me, though well blended with wood and floral notes. Quite delicious and yummy - it has elements of frangipani pie, and almonds, and something green. I do like this. 

It is a steady burner, gently but decidedly informing the room with a sensual woody warmth that lingers as the best masala always does.  While the aroma on the stick was predominantly from a musky liquid fragrance, the aroma on the burn is much more woody - a creamy, sandalwood. Though termed Amber the scent is more likely to come from Labdanum, a sticky resin obtained from a variety of rock rose. 

I do like this, and would be happy to get more. I do like sensual, musky, woody scents. And this is a good one. 


Date: April 2023    Score: 44 

Amber