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.
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