I like this. This is a seductive woody little number from Bhagwan Incense with complex and unusual floral top and middle notes, like a cross between rose and patchouli - it's something a little different. The Hari Leela incense name is associated with the small, traditional Haridas Madhavdas company in Pune who sell via Prasad Gifts in America, and Pure Incense and Gokula in the UK, as well as others. Pure Incense sell Hari Leela in two version, their regular Absolute Hari Leela in 20g boxes for £6.75, and the "double strength" Connoisseur Hari Leela in 10g boxes for £5.95. Primo Incense was perhaps the best known outlet for Haridas Madhavdas, and that brand has now been absorbed into Prasad Gifts and Gokula. Gokula sell Primo Incense Hari Leela at £3.95 for 20g as well as their own Bakula Flower for the same price. The bakula flower is the main scent in Hari Leela, and that is given as the sub-name on the box. It is the flower of the bakula tree, also known as Spanish cherry, medlar, and bullet wood - it is used for ayurvedic purposes. The flower is known as having a woody, herbal floral scent similar to patchouli. I dug into my stocks and got out a vintage Gaura Absolute Hari Leela that I got from Gokula way back in 2013, which I shall review after I have finished with this stick by Bhagwan.
The stick is 8 inches with just over 6 inches of very hard paste which has been hand-rolled with variable thickness onto a machine cut bamboo splint dyed a dusky rose. The scent on the stick is very floral and sweet with a range of obscure, not easily identified middle notes - get too close and it has a cool volatility which presents as a vanilla flavoured car air freshener. On lighting there is a small flame which hesitates before going out, though has also briefly flared up, producing a modicum of black smoke. I am now fairly convinced that black smoke only appears when there is a somewhat large enough flame which burns the ingredients too fast, and so unburned particles rise in the smoke. As we generally blow incense out quickly (as we should), this black smoke is not often seen. I'm only seeing it because I have been deliberately waiting before blowing out the flame, just to see if there is black smoke. I think I'll stop doing that now. My experience indicates that the fatter the stick and/or the more combustible the ingredients (including the use of fragrant and fragrance oils, with or without DEP), the more likely there is to be black smoke. I don't think that Fair Trade Incense Works' claim that black smoke comes from the use of chemicals in incense is a strictly accurate one.
I do like the scent on this stick. I find it elegant and slightly mysterious. It is perhaps a little sugary sweet for my taste, and a little too reliant on the simple candy appeal of vanilla; however, I do like the other notes that weave in and around the sweetness - the light musk, the subtle patchouli, the almost heady rose and night jasmine. Ooooh. This is so nice. Tone down the vanilla, and pump up the woods, and this could be a killer for me.
The description on the box is "Sweet and mellow, uplifting fragrance of Indian Bakul tree flowers, often called a 'floral sandalwood'". Yes, I think that's a good description. This is not on the Bhagwan website. Eugene has told me that not all the samples he's given me are yet available. I think this is one to keep an eye out for.
The stick is 8 inches with just over 6 inches of very hard paste which has been hand-rolled with variable thickness onto a machine cut bamboo splint dyed a dusky rose. The scent on the stick is very floral and sweet with a range of obscure, not easily identified middle notes - get too close and it has a cool volatility which presents as a vanilla flavoured car air freshener. On lighting there is a small flame which hesitates before going out, though has also briefly flared up, producing a modicum of black smoke. I am now fairly convinced that black smoke only appears when there is a somewhat large enough flame which burns the ingredients too fast, and so unburned particles rise in the smoke. As we generally blow incense out quickly (as we should), this black smoke is not often seen. I'm only seeing it because I have been deliberately waiting before blowing out the flame, just to see if there is black smoke. I think I'll stop doing that now. My experience indicates that the fatter the stick and/or the more combustible the ingredients (including the use of fragrant and fragrance oils, with or without DEP), the more likely there is to be black smoke. I don't think that Fair Trade Incense Works' claim that black smoke comes from the use of chemicals in incense is a strictly accurate one.
I do like the scent on this stick. I find it elegant and slightly mysterious. It is perhaps a little sugary sweet for my taste, and a little too reliant on the simple candy appeal of vanilla; however, I do like the other notes that weave in and around the sweetness - the light musk, the subtle patchouli, the almost heady rose and night jasmine. Ooooh. This is so nice. Tone down the vanilla, and pump up the woods, and this could be a killer for me.
The description on the box is "Sweet and mellow, uplifting fragrance of Indian Bakul tree flowers, often called a 'floral sandalwood'". Yes, I think that's a good description. This is not on the Bhagwan website. Eugene has told me that not all the samples he's given me are yet available. I think this is one to keep an eye out for.
Date: Oct 2023 Score: 44
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