Bilvapatra refers to the stone apple tree, a plant sacred to Hindus and Buddhists. Kapoor is mentioned on the blurb: "With Mixture of Pure Kapoor" - kapoor is camphor. The hand rolled paste is soft, pliable, and moist, covered with a thin coating of melnoorva. The appearance is thus of a masala style incense; however, the scent on the stick is volatile, chemical, synthetic, powerful, and somewhat overbearing. It is, however, an interesting and plausibly attractive scent. I can't quite pin it down, so it intrigues me. There's fruit, musk, wood, leather, floral, earthy decay, camphor, and way too much chemical sharpness for comfort.
When lit there is some black smoke, though less than the other Flourish sticks I've burned. It settles into a somewhat steady burn with an attractive swirling grey smoke. There are occasional minor sparks and puffs, but really that is very minor. The scent on the burn is warm, sultry, muggy, fragrant, like a hot Mediterranean evening in a blossoming field of flowers and herbs and spices and pine trees. Musk is the heart of this incense, holding my interest, with fruits, flowers, and spices playing around on top. Hmm - this is reasonably likeable. I've not really been impressed with the Flourish Fragrance samples I've been sent, mainly due to the chemical/synthetic nature of the scents, however the musky ones like this and the Indian Kasturi, I've found somewhat acceptable. This one has attracted me the most. It's a warm, seductive, intriguing burn despite it's synthetic nature.
Flourish Fragrance Bilvapatra may sometimes turn up on eBay, and can be bought from Aavyaa in India with free international shipping if you spend over £50. The wooden incense holder in the photo was sent to me by Aida of IncenseBurnerHolder.com.
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