(HMS) Bhagwan Incense Patchouli

 

I've just been revisiting a Haridas Madhavdas Sugandhi of Pune HMS patchouli incense sold by UK distributor Gokula under various names: Primo / Gokula Connoisseur / Gaura (Super) Patchouli, and looking around at the various companies who sell the same incense under different brand names. And Bhagwan is one such. I'm now wondering how to present HMS incenses. Should I put them all together under the same entry? Or do I review them as though they are stand alone incenses, but point out to people that the same stick is available under a different name from another retailer? 

I wouldn't have a separate entry for each shop I buy an incense from, though I do tend to mention and link to such shops as that is useful to me, to readers, and to the shop.  

For my own use I would like to have an entry for each brand of an incense, to make it easier to find and reference. So what I think I will do is create a main entry for the incense - such as "HMS Patchouli" - and an entry for each brand of that incense - such as Bhagwan Patchouli, though marking in brackets the actual maker, so "(HMS) Bhagwan Patchouli", and then have a redirect from each of the brands to the main entry, which will hold all the separate reviews. 

That seems the fairest and most helpful.  At the moment I will only be doing this for HMS incense, as there is no exclusive use of HMS, and their incense is easy to identify. Also, no trade secrets are being revealed. There are some sources for incense brands that I am  aware of, but which I won't reveal because I've been asked not to. And I understand and respect the commercial imperative behind not revealing a source.  

So, let's talk about this Bhagwan branded Patchouli. I will sort out the organisation of the blog posts later. 

The stick is typically Haridas Madhavdas (HMS) - a thin 6 1/2 inches of charcoal paste on an 8 inch pink dyed bamboo splint. The paste has been thinly rolled in a greenish melnoorva powder, and there's little sparkles which seem to have become common in recent HMS sticks (I haven't noted them in older sticks). The scent on the stick is perfumed - quite green in an earthy manner reminiscent of marihuana, mint, vanilla, mushrooms, damp earth. Very yummy and quite sweet, though in a delicious way, not candy, child sweet, but baklava, sexy sweet. This is warm honey, vaginal lubrication, spicy earth, green marihuana, and it's a powerful aroma when fresh. There's also dark florals, heady rose, and some camphor. Brilliant stuff. But I am very pre-disposed toward patchouli, so even everyday synthetic perfumed charcoal sticks I can find appealing. 

As expected from such a thin stick, the burn is not dramatic. The scent will grow and beautifully inform the room, but if impatient to experience the fragrance, some wafting (never advised due to health risks) will take place. I waft. The vanilla is quite upfront on the burn, and the musky elements of the patchouli come through, but not as clearly or sweetly or richly as on the stick.  This is something I find to be fairly common on perfumed incense - that is, sticks which have had the scent added to the charcoal, rather than sticks which have a masala paste into which the scents have been added before rolling, tend to have strong scents on the stick which seem to evaporate quickly during the burn. The scent on the stick is sublime. The scent on the burn is very decent and attractive, but not as sexy and disturbing as on the stick. The main notes are vanilla, mint, green herbs, musk. The complexity and sweetness on the stick is not there. Or, it's hard to find. But, this is still a damn fine burn. I like it.  

Available from Bhagwan Incense at  €4.95 for 15 gms. 

Date: March 2024   Score: 37 

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Haridas Madhavdas Sugandhi

Patchouli

Reviewed on Rauchfahne

Bhagwan Incense