Incense In The Wind

Radiating Incense In The Wind - a painting by Hai Linh Le

Sunday 17 September 2023

Ekom Kasturi

 


I have four samples, attractively packaged, from Ekom, whose byline, Sugandh Naye Bharat Ki, means Fragrance of New India. That Ekom are based in the young city of Chandigarh with its bold modern architecture by Corbusier, seems appropriate for this modern and young incense company. 



The company's website states that their products are organic, with no charcoal, or potassium nitrate or chemicals. The aim appears to be to produce a modern, natural, gentle and subtle incense. 

The sticks are 8 inches long, with 6 1/2 inches of incense. They are machine made, with the pale brown paste applied to a machine-cut undyed bamboo splint. There is a pleasant musky volatile perfume on the stick. It is attractive and inviting, though fairly sweet and commercial, and just a little too perfumed and narrow to get me excited. However, it is an attractive room freshener, and an encouraging start. 

The stick burns modestly. The scent is cool and mild and delicate. There is a modest amount of smoke, and the scent gently informs the room without aggression. It is polite and well mannered, and burns for around 40 minutes.  Kasturi is deer musk; originally sourced from male deer, these days the scent is typically prepared from plants and resins such as myrrh, patchouli and lemongrass, and there are elements of those scents in this incense. 

This is a clean, cool, modern take on the traditional musk scent. It is delicate and polite, with a corporate charm, though perhaps leans too much on the commercial approach, and feels a little too well mannered and perfumed for my own taste. I like it, and the scent is pleasing, though it doesn't lift me like some bolder or more heady traditional incenses do. However, it is decent incense, and I'm charmed enough to want to explore further. 

Available from Aavyaa at 300 Rupees (£3) for a pack of 42 sticks. 


Date: Sept 2023   Score:  32 
***

The Ekom samples



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