Carl Jager

 

Carl Jager are a fourth generation German incense maker, founded in 1897.  

Reviews

   

Carl Jager Weihnachts-Duft 
Nov 2025 - Score: 35

  

Carl Jager Echte Wiehrauchkerzen Rot (PM)
Nov 2025 - Score: 33

   

Carl Jager Echte Weihrauchkerzen Schwarz (P)
Nov 2025 - Score: 27

Reviews: 3  
High score: 35
Low score: 27 
Average: 

***

The Best Incense Makers

Incense Around the World

Carl Jager Weihnachts-Duft

 

German cones are fun. There's no artifice about them, they are what they are  - familiar fun scents, usually with a Christmas theme. Carl Jagar is no different in that respect, and this  Weihnachts-Duft is their "Christmas Scent", and the five cones come in a waxed paper envelope decorated with a cute child-like Christmas illustration of three children dressed as the three wise men.

It is the story of the Three Wise Men that started the tradition of making incense cones in Germany. The three wise men brought gifts of frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus. In the German mining community, according to the Carl Jager website, the 11th and 12th century workers would anoint themselves with the smoke from home made frankincense cones to spiritually protect themselves from harm when working in the mine. I love these cultural traditions which continue in echoes to the present day. Like the bonfires at Halloween are an echo of the ritual bonfires that occurred during the Celtic festival of Samhain, held on the same date in the calendar.   

The cones are small and dark, and very firm, with a pleasant sweet, almost candy scent, touched with dark berry fruits. There are gold flakes in the cone - which is likely to be a reference to the gold that the three wise men brought.  The scent on the burn is delightful. A little spicy in a resinous way with warm fir, and then the musky, earthy sweetness of woods and resins comes forward. There's frankincense and possibly myrrh; and some coal fire smoke. The spicy fir top notes are now gone, and the dark woody resins and coal dust grows stronger.  There is a moment in the scent journey with these Carl Jager cones where the top notes are beautifully balanced with the base notes, but then  the base notes start to dominate, the balance is gone, and the experience becomes more ordinary until, near the end, it becomes a little scorched and muddled. 

On the whole I like these little cones. I pretty much almost love them. And I like the rich history and tradition associated with them. Sometimes a good deal of the pleasure in burning an incense is in being aware of the history, culture, and tradition associated with it. 

Available direct from Carl Jager for 1.70 Euros. Outside of Europe contact the company on mail@jaegers-raeucherkerzen.de to arrange shipping costs. 

Date: Nov 2025   Score: 35 

***

Carl Jager

Carl Jager Echte Weihrauchkerzen Schwarz

 Echte Weihrauchkerzen Schwarz translates as Original Incense (or Frankincense) Candle Black.  It's original, as it is one of the recipes of the company's founder, Carl Jager, from 1897; candle is the German term for cone, and black as that is the colour.  I've just burned the company's Red, which appears to be the same cone, but with a coating of a delightful fragrant red powder.  I prefer the Red because of the extra fragrance from the powder. This Black cone is a little too simple for my  taste - it just smells of coal burning. Nice, warming, and comforting, but doesn't rock my boat. 

Available for 1.70 Euros from Carl Jager, and at various German online stores.  There are no automatic means to buy online from Carl Jager, but if you make up a list of what you want, and send an email to mail@jaegers-raeucherkerzen.de, they will calculate shipping costs and invoice you. 

Date: Nov 2025   Score: 27

***

Carl Jager

Carl Jager Echte Weihrauchkerzen Rot

 

I love learning more and more about incense and incense cultures. The culture and history of German cones fascinates me. Some of the better known German incense companies are the longest established incense companies in the world, outside of Japan. The cones are strongly associated with Christmas and with beautifully crafted German Smokers, such as these cuties as well as the more traditional.

Sascha of Indiaroma has directed me to several small German incense makers I'd not been aware of. And Carl Jager is the company he rates highest, so I ordered a bunch of cones, and even some sticks.  This is the first I am trying. Echte Weihrauchkerzen Rot roughly translates as Genuine Incense (or Frankincense) Cone Red. The direct translation is "Incense Candle" as cones are often referred to as candles in Germany. The incense is named "original" as it was one of the original recipes devised by the founder, Carl Jager, over 125 years ago in 1897. Though correspondence with the company, both emails and letters, are signed Carl Jager, the current owner appears to be Ilona Jäger-Schimpf, the great-granddaughter of the founder. She took over in 2014, after the death of her father. So this is a fourth generation incense house.  

The packaging feels wonderfully artisan - a waxed paper pouch with a crude and charming drawing of a German smoker. The wording under the name translates as "Gives a subtly spicy fragrance". There are six small cones, coloured red. There is a sweet, gently spicy scent on the cone. The red colour is from a dusting of powder on the cone, rather similar to the melnoorva/masala powder used on Indian masala incense. 

There is a charming "Christmas scent" when the cone is first lit - a smell of Christmas trees in the frost. Gradually a smell of a coal fire develops, and there's an engaging olfactory picture of a Christmas tree and a roaring coal fire. For such a small cone it packs quite a punch, the fragrance quickly and firmly diffusing around the room. It's a clean and non-aggressive scent, though some of the coal fire elements can catch at the back of my throat. This is not a profound scent. There's no design to it. No  perfumer has been near this. But its simplicity and directness is a large part of its charm, and I am beguiled by it.  Some flaws emerge toward the end - some scorch notes as the heat gets to the wider part of the cone near the base. I find this common in cones. I find that sticks release a more consistent and smoother fragrance. The shape of the cone appears to me to work against it, as tars build up, and drop down into the wide base as the cone burns, so by the end there is too much of the base notes, few top notes, and some flaws emerge. This is common to cones in general, but seems to be particularly noticeable here. That said, I have thoroughly enjoyed this. 

Available for 1.70 Euros from Carl Jager, and at various German online stores.  There are no automatic means to buy online from Carl Jager, but if you make up a list of what you want, and email mail@jaegers-raeucherkerzen.de, they will calculate shipping costs and invoice you. 

Date: Nov 2025   Score: 33

***

   

Carl Jager

The Mother's India Fragrances Prem / Lavanya

 

This is called Prem in the UK, but Lavanya elsewhere. Ingredients are given for both as "many layers of" jasmine, ylang ylang, vanilla, and cedar. 

   

UK name - "Affection"

  

Delightful scent on the stick. Delicate, floral, powdery sweet. Smells like Love Hearts. Quite joyful and uplifting and feminine, and somewhat child-like. Yeah. Nice. Very commercial - I should imagine such a scent would have a wide appeal. I like it. 

Oz and USA name - "Graceful"

The scent on the burn continues what was started on the stick. Powdery sweet, with light floral notes. I wouldn't pin it down to jasmine or anything, more a generic sweet floral - a sort of lab made "floral" which could be used in sweets, soaps, and casual home fresheners. There's a vague and soft woody base, with a gentle bitter roughness like tree bark which gives a decent balance to the sweetness. Hmm. Some more identifiable jasmine is starting to impress itself on me. Along with some faint caramel, and an even fainter sense of  prickly lambs wool, which I tend to associate with halmaddi.  Away on the edges I'm aware of the dry, peppery notes I am apt to get from Pondicherry incense, but mostly I'm finding this gentle, sweet, delicate, and appealing. The child like feminine sweetness at the start is quite joyful and uplifting, then, when the base notes start to makes themselves felt, this becomes a more serious and rounded incense, with a calming influence. Yes, I like this.  

Date: Nov 2025   Score: 35

***

The Mother's India Fragrances

Reviewed in Germany

Reviewed in USA

Misbah's Silky Oudh

 

A heady, earthy, alcoholic, powdery sweet, bakhoor aroma on the stick. Lots of fumes. Almost intoxicating. Muslim Indian incense tends to be Arabian in nature, and if it says oudh, it will be a bakhoor style oudh - quite heady, rich, cologne soaked, rather than the drier, woody agarwood inspired oudh favoured by Asians in general. 

The scent on the burn develops that on the stick - it is heady, alcoholic, powdery sweet, with florals, particularly rose, prominent above the sweaty, earthy, musky base. There's a lot of fairly sharp top notes - fairly aldehydic; perhaps that is the intended "silky" aspect. If so, it makes it feel sort of old fashioned, and a little too bright and sparkly for me. I'm not against aldehydics, but here I find it something of a clash with the earthy woody base. But I like the idea of a silky oudh, and there's much about this that I find both charming and compelling.

Available from Misbah at  500 rupees for 100g (India only). It occasionally turns up on eBay - worth doing a search. 250 rupees for 50g from Aavyaa, who are no longer doing free international shipping. I spoke with Vishesh, and because of the expense of international shipping he is now charging. If you get together a list of what you want and WhatsApp him on +91 97100 09184, he'll let you know shipping costs. 

Date: Oct 2025   Score: 37

***

Misbah's Fragrance

The best oudh incense

Misbah's Wild Tiger

 

A very scruffy and ugly stick of crumbly charcoal paste. Reasonably generous amount of paste, and a huge whiff of oily fragrance informed by some cool volatility. There's been a dusting of orange-brown melnoorva/masala powder, though much has come off; and some of the paste has come away leaving the stick bare in places. There is a crude charm to such poorly made incense - and in stands in contrast to the bland corporatism of machine made sticks which are made in their thousands, each exactly the same as the next. However, as someone who generally walks down the middle of the road, noting the gangs, cults, and factions on either side as I do so, my preference is for something better made; and while I enjoy the subtle and heart-warming variation of hand-made, I do like a certain degree of quality consistency.  

In its favour, though, is that the oily, Arabian, sweet bakhoor influenced fragrance on the stick is very compelling. Chocolate, coffee, tobacco, mint, pistachio, almond paste, are all found in the fragrance, along with cologne soaked wood. 

And when the incense is lit up, the Wild Tiger comes to life. This is glorious. Soft, dreamy, complex, full of scents, which weave around each other creating a beautiful olfactory tapestry of exquisite delight. I love this. A compelling, beautiful, fascinating, woody, sweet fragrance with all the notes and tones found on the stick - the coffee, the chocolate, the tobacco, etc. Oooh. Special.  

Available in India from Scenting Secrets and Aavyaa (the free international shipping  has stopped - though they still do ship internationally, you need to contact Vishesh on Whatsapp [+91 97100 09184] with a list of what you want, and he will work out postage). May occasionally  turn up on eBay. 

Date: Oct 2025   Score: 48

***

Misbah's Fragrance

Stamford Sandalwood (masala)

 

Hand-rolled moist charcoal paste on a machine cut bamboo splint, and thinly coated with a fragrant yellow coloured melnoorva/masala powder. Delightful scent on the stick - a little cool and volatile with a cologne accord - slightly reminiscent of Brut with some berry fruits. A little earthy. Attractive. 

It is fairly assertive on the burn, and it is a little dry and spicy to boot. The fragrance is a fairly generic "masala incense". There's some general gentle wood along with some perfume or cologne, and a touch of floral. It doesn't feel designed so much as simply thrown together. And it's not a scent I feel comfortable with burning in the same room. It's not an unattractive scent, it's just that it is a little heady or "smoky", along with dry and prickly, without enough compensating rewards of a well designed fragrance accord. There's no development - this is not a linear composition, the scents just appear all at once, like some old fashioned 1950s perfume, and then struggle to be heard amongst the noise and clamour. 

And for all the heat and noise during the burn, there isn't a corresponding retention. The essence of the stick appears to be the noise of the burn, which simply leaves an echo of the clamour rather than the pleasure of the fragrance. But, for all that, it is not an offensive incense, and there are pleasant scents as part of the overall experience. 

Date: Nov 2025  Score: 25

***

Stamford London

Sandalwood

Misbah's White Tiger

 

A heavy stick. A generous amount of extruded paste on a machine cut bamboo splint. A heady aroma of sage and herbs on the stick. Quite fresh and cleansing. As with the Rose Oudh I've just reviewed there is a lot of black smoke when lighting the stick, and the flames are burning quite hungrily. When the flame is blown out the stick produces the familiar grey smoke. I'm not sure why this happens with some incenses. It tends to happen with incenses that are quite heady. I suspect it is due to using a larger than average amount of DEP. But I don't really know. 

The scent on the burn is quite clean and fresh with floral notes hovering above the sage and herbs, and with some sweet musky, patchouli under notes. It is a very attractive scent, though perhaps a tad sweet, and a tad too much like a car freshener or room scent-diffuser to really get me excited. 

Available in India from Scenting Secrets and Aavyaa.  

Date: Oct 2025   Score: 33

***

Misbah's Fragrance

Misbah's Rose Oudh

 

Sample of Misbah's Rose Oudh from Julian of The Incense Atelier. I've had three previous incenses from this young Bangalore based incense house, and was impressed by them. Other than the occasional expensive eBay listing, and via the excellent Indian online shop Aavyaa, they appear to not be available in the West (at least under their own name); which is a shame considering they are decent quality.  However, Misbah's incense is aimed at the Indian market, and specifically the Muslim community in India, so tend to be quite rich and traditional, with a focus on bakhoor styles, which is not necessarily what most Westerners get excited about. My understanding is that Julian has reached the same conclusion,  and is not at the moment considering importing them. 

The sticks are quite weighty - the bamboo splints are solid, machine-cut, decent quality, and the incense paste (dry, crumbly) has been applied generously albeit it a little crudely with assorted lumps and bumps. A small amount of powder has been applied to the paste. The scent on the stick is heady, affirmative, Arabian, with a huge focus on Damask rose. 

The scent on the burn is quite delicious. It's my sort of incense. It's gently affirmative, gently heady, with a pronounced focus on the rose aspects, though the sweet florals are nicely held in check by the sultry woods and musks. It's an earthy and sexy little incense. Quite  comforting and embracing. It really charms the room and leaves a delicious and quite cleansing fragrance. Top stuff.  My favourite Misbah so far. 

Available from Misbah at  500 rupees for 100g (India only). It occasionally turns up on eBay - worth doing a search. 250 rupees for 50g from Aavyaa, who are no longer doing free international shipping. I spoke with Vishesh, and because of the expense of international shipping he is now charging. If you get together a list of what you want and WhatsApp him on +91 97100 09184, he'll let you know shipping costs. 

Date: Oct 2025   Score: 43

***

Misbah's Fragrance

The best oudh incense

Best rose incense

GP Industries Gurudwar

 

A sample of GP Industries Gurudwar sent to me by Julian of The Incense Atelier.  I've previously had two other incenses from GP Industries, and I was impressed with both: Ruh Amber and Pandhari. GP Industries are based in the city of Shimoga in Karnataka (they appear to be the only incense house in Shimoga), and seem to have been in business since 2012. I like the incenses I've had from them. I've been very impressed.  This incense is named after Sikh temples or holy places. 

The incense sticks are a hand rolled soft & moist charcoal paste on plain machine cut bamboo splints. The paste is covered with a fragrant brown melnoorva/masala powder. The scent on the stick is musky, sweet, woody, perfumed, with floral touches. I find it very attractive and somewhat Arabian - it reminds me of bakhoor, though sweeter and more feminine.

The scent on the burn follows that of the scent on the stick, though warmer and less clear. It is a homely and attractive embrace. It gently and pleasantly informs the room without being dramatic or clever. It perhaps remains in that somewhat commercial warm musky sweet spot a little too much for my taste .I'd welcome a little more variety and/or balance. A few sharp notes would add interest and excitement. However, as it is, it is a delicious incense, leaving a very warm and welcoming fragrance in the room. 

Date: Oct 2025    Score: 38

***

GP Industries

GP Industries Amber Kasturi

A sample of GP Industries Amber Kasturi sent to me by Julian of The Incense Atelier.  I've had two other incenses from GP Industries, and I was impressed with both: Ruh Amber and Pandhari. GP Industries are based in the city of Shimoga in Karnataka (they appear to be the only incense house in Shimoga), and seem to have been in business since 2012. Kasturi is musk, which, like amber, is these days a created scent - either synthetic, or a blend of natural oils.

The incense sticks are a hand rolled soft & moist charcoal paste on plain machine cut bamboo splints which have a faint red dye at the tips. The paste is covered with a fragrant brown melnoorva/masala powder. The scent on the stick is very masculine and sexy - bundles of musk. Oooh - it's almost pornographic. I love deep, dark, musky scents, so I am drawn to this. Though it initially hits as masculine, I also see it as female. A strong, dark, sexy female. If a woman wore this as a perfume I would fall in love with her and bundle her off with me to the south of France to have my babies. 

The scent on the burn is more of the same, though with an awareness of floral qualities (without actually having a floral scent). It is a deep, dark, moist and mysterious musk. There's a suggestion of sweetness, but mostly it is a moist earthiness with some woods. It is a glorious scent, though, for me, it could do with some lightness as a relief or contrast. This is a bucket at the bottom of the well of musk, and there's not much air or sunlight coming through. Something else happening now and again would lift this higher. But even so, as it is, it's damned sexy and compelling.  

Date: Oct 2025    Score: 45

***

GP Industries

Musk

Amber

GP Industries, Karnataka

 

GP Industries are based in the city of Shimoga in Karnataka (they appear to be the only incense house in Shimoga), and seem to have been in business since 2012.

Reviews

   

GP Industries Amber Kasturi (PM)
Oct 2025 - Score: 45

GP Industries Ruh Amber (M)
April 2023 - Score: 44 

   

GP Industries Pandhari (M)

Aug 2023 - Score: 43 

   

GP Industries Gurudwar (PM)
Oct 2025 - Score: 38

Reviews: 4 
Top: 45

Bottom: 38

Average: 42

***

The Best Incense Makers

Vinasons (VNS) Patchouli Dhoop Sticks

 

I love patchouli, and there is some patchouli in this, but it is somewhat overshadowed, for me, by the vanilla (benzoin?) and other notes - chocolate, mint, etc. Put aside the patchouli name, and just approach this as an incense, and I feel much more comfortable, as this has a glorious fragrance that shouldn't be disturbed by doubts about the nature of the patchouli scent. It is fresh, sweet, and exciting. Perhaps a tad too sweet with the vanilla to be a truly great incense - as a Middle Eastern desert it would be awesome. It is so delicious I would love to eat this. As an incense I'd like it to be a tad more earthy and musky, especially with the patchouli name, but even so, as it is I love it. And I love the clean, fresh scent it leaves in the house for hours afterwards. 

The more Vinasons I burn the more I like this incense house. Well crafted incense using traditional scents, but giving them a modern twist. This Patchouli dhoop stick presents as a clean, modern scent that would be as welcomed by Gen Z buyers as the traditional aging hippy Baby boomer market, which is, inevitably, a dying market. 

Date: Oct 2025   Score:  40 

***

Vithaldas Narayandas & Sons
Vinasons

Patchouli

Vinasons (VNS) Royal Sandalwood Dhoop Sticks

 

Vinasons appear to be experts with sandalwood - a significant proportion of their output is sandalwood. Possibly to a degree above average for an Indian incense house (many Asian incense houses deal mostly in either sandalwood or agarwood, while Indian incense houses are more varied). Vinasons' sandalwood incense as a body is quite impressive; I have two listed with scores in the 40s, signifying what I regard as "Heavenly Incense".  This dhoop of the Royal Sandalwood fragrance blend is another fine sandalwood by Vinasons. Minty fresh aspects to the fragrance on the dhoop promises an intriguing blend. There's silky chocolate notes balancing the earthy sandalwood which is the backbone of the accord. 

The dhoop is thin and dry, and fairly short, so this is not a long, heady burn, nor is it smoky such as I tend to get with wet dhoops. This is more a casual everyday quick room freshener. Much in the style of  dhoops such as Panchavati, Vakratund, Padmini, Balaji, etc. And it does elegantly sweeten the room with a soft fragrant sandalwood - more floral and minty than earthy, though the accord is well supported by a sweet, musky, woody embrace. The general impression is perhaps more patchouli than sandalwood, and that plays to my tastes. 

I like this. I like this as a casual room freshener. It is not a complex incense, nor an attention seeker, this is a delicate pleasure giver. Soft, subtle, fragrant, floral,  and really quite pleasing. Some vanilla notes in the burn (possibly benzoin), linger delightfully for hours afterwards making the home feel clean, fresh, and happy. 

Royal Sandalwood Dhoop Sticks are available in boxes of 10 sticks from VNS at 30 rupees (25p). (If you live outside India, to buy from VNS you need to contact Shreyas Sugandhi at vns@vnsons.com). 

Date: Oct 2025   Score:  40

***

Vithaldas Narayandas & Sons
Vinasons

Sandalwood

Dhoop