I bought a small bundle of incenses from Pilgrims Fair Trade, which have been made by someone in the north west India temple town of Pushkar. Pilgrims Fair Trade describe them as "Temple Incense", and so "Pushkar Temple" has become a common way to describe them on Western incense blogs and forums. My experience so far has not been positive. These could be said to match the low cost, cheaply made "Flora" incenses which use a lot of fragrance oils and agarbatti oils to give a big hit of aroma without much thought to aesthetics. The best of them are quite heady and pungent with a crude backstreet charisma. I tend to like that sort of incense, and I did find the crude pungency of the Agar Woods to be rather likeable. But the two sandalwoods, Sandal Woods and Super Sandal have left me cold. My opinion of the maker of these sticks is now fairly low, and my intention was to simply rush through the rest, to get them out of the way, and on to something more interesting and rewarding. However, this stick has the heady charisma of the Agar Woods, and - ignoring the sharp volatility - there is an agreeable sweet and fruity aroma. Nothing of amber or musk, this is more citrics, fruits, and florals. There's hand cream, soap, generic room freshener, and pine disinfectant thrown in as well, but I'm Ok with all that. Those are scents commonly found in Indian incenses which bulk up with synthetic fragrances. And I'm OK with that. I'm under no illusion that the unknown maker in Pushkar is using quality fragrances. They appear to be buying cheap and piling high. Which is fine if the end result produces something interesting or charismatic.
The scent on the burn, however, is a let down. It doesn't have the allure of the subtle clash of the titans of the scent on the stick. And some of the core material is making itself known, so a smouldering paper aroma is mingled in with the oils. It's not bad though. And I could convince myself there's something, however slight, "musky" about the fragrance. There's an attractive warm sweetness - not too much, and there's woods - mostly a dark, cheap sandalwood, though a touch of pine and cedar as well. Hmm. It's OK. Not great, but certainly OK.
The scent on the burn, however, is a let down. It doesn't have the allure of the subtle clash of the titans of the scent on the stick. And some of the core material is making itself known, so a smouldering paper aroma is mingled in with the oils. It's not bad though. And I could convince myself there's something, however slight, "musky" about the fragrance. There's an attractive warm sweetness - not too much, and there's woods - mostly a dark, cheap sandalwood, though a touch of pine and cedar as well. Hmm. It's OK. Not great, but certainly OK.
Date: Jan 2025 Score: 29
***
We have bought and used Pilgrims Incense many times over the years, always liked it. When we have not known quite what to burn they have been helpful pointing us in the right direction scent wise - they know their stuff. Burn time good, scent lingers nicely and it makes the house smell good especially after cooking. We find their incense is good value for money and postad quickly and cheaply. Our conclusion is good value for money and we shall continue to buy from them. Nice quality products with good aromas and friendly sales staff. Nice to support a genuine, kind and fair trade family business like Pilgrims who know their stuff.
ReplyDeleteYes, I like Pilgrims Fair Trade as well. This Pushkar incense is not made by them, it is sold by them.
DeleteAre you referring to the shop or the incense?
Delete