Incense In The Wind

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

Wednesday 18 October 2023

Bhagwan Incense Spring Blossom Masala Incense

 


Eugene of Bhagwan Incense has sent me a huge bundle of samples to try. It's likely I will be spending a fair bit of time on these over the next few weeks. 

All the Bhagwan incenses come in oblong boxes with attractive Indian fractals and mandala patterns, plus a little bit of information about the fragrance in the packet - this one says: "A perfect blend of rose and woody musk with hints of pine, cherries, and vanilla". I have noted the vanilla and cherry on the stick, and rose and musk in the burn, so the descriptions match with my experience so far. All the incenses I've looked at so far have been masala - which is what I would expect from Eugene, who has been keeping me informed about his travels in India, tracking down the appropriate incense for his shop. We have been in touch for just over two years, and have exchanged incense for fun. 

The sticks are 9 inches long with around 7 inches of  soft charcoal paste thinly and neatly hand-rolled onto a plain machine cut bamboo splint, which is coated in an attractive looking dusky red powder. Scent on the stick is delightful. Jammy. Sweet. Coconut. Some volatile shoe polish. Vanilla. Light traces of jasmine. Hints of cherry. Quite compelling. It's a bit light and jolly for my taste, though I do like a bright, uplifting incense now and again. When lit there is a bold flame with some black smoke. When the flame is blown out, there is a steady, moderate amount of grey smoke. The burn length is around 45 minutes.  

The blurb on the box says: " A perfect blend of rose and woody musk with hints of pine, cherries, and vanilla." 

The scent on the burn is delightful, and a little bit familiar. It's light, feminine, floral, sweet. It's a candy sweetness with little touches of rose, hints of Turkish delight. Quite yummy. I might have smelt this accord before, but can't pin it down. After the top notes, some of the deeper notes come through, and these are very much my thing - musk, patchouli, some sandalwood. It's not an adventurous or bold accord - it's following a nag champa principle of woody base and floral top notes, but that's not a bad thing as nag champa is such a profound and popular accord. It does mean, though, that as a known accord it isn't going to get me over-excited; instead, it's comforting and enjoyable. And I'm loving it. It's a sherbet dip incense - full of light, joyful, pleasurable scents you want to eat.  Yes, nice one. Great fun. 


Date: Oct 2023   Score: 39

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