I've not reviewed many single-scent cedarwood incenses. There are plenty out there, though not so many from India where I have done most of my incense exploring. I like cedar, though I find it a little limiting as a single scent. I tend to prefer it as a base scent to counter-point fresh, citric scents. Or for the incense maker to use their imagination and creativity to produce something new and refreshing.
The paste on the stick is quite dry and hard, though it will crumble and break down into dust. There is a mild spicy wood scent. Soft. Slightly sweet and musky. Quite perfumed. It's like an old, faded Turkish men's hair oil.
The scent on the burn is quite vigorous. Dark, woody, peppery and spicy. Sombre. Masculine. There's an outdoors feel. Pine. Cut grass a day old. Warmth to the point of heat - as if from a bonfire at midnight in a sparse wood on a small hill. I could go either way with this fragrance. It's somewhat simple and limiting - there's not a lot going on, and it's dry and sombre, and a bit too close to just being wood burning, albeit an aromatic wood. However, it is attractive and oddly compelling, especially for a simple wood scent. I used to work in the James Latham wood yard in Clapton, East London, and I loved the scents of fresh cut woods, especially aromatic woods such as cedar. But that was a different scent to this - that was a fresh, juicy, living scent. This is a dead scent, only brought to life by fire. This leans more into the aroma of burning wood than into the fresh fragrance of the wood.
Essentially, this is likeable, but too dull, too sombre, too boring for me to get much pleasure out of it. Folks who like the burning plant smell of Tibetan incense, the single scent smell of wood burning, and who like the old fashioned/traditional mono-scents of Cottage and related Pondicherry incenses, may enjoy this rather more than me. Ingredients are "Wood powders, eucalyptus powder, resin, cedarwood essential oil and pine needle essential oil" - the cedarwood oil coming from Himalayan cedar. It's all good stuff, natural, and very worthy, but it's not for me. And I do think we need to be getting away from burning wood for pleasure, as burning wood destroys the planet. We need more modern, intelligent, forward thinking incense makers who are exploring alternative combustibles, and less harmful aromatics.
Essentially, this is likeable, but too dull, too sombre, too boring for me to get much pleasure out of it. Folks who like the burning plant smell of Tibetan incense, the single scent smell of wood burning, and who like the old fashioned/traditional mono-scents of Cottage and related Pondicherry incenses, may enjoy this rather more than me. Ingredients are "Wood powders, eucalyptus powder, resin, cedarwood essential oil and pine needle essential oil" - the cedarwood oil coming from Himalayan cedar. It's all good stuff, natural, and very worthy, but it's not for me. And I do think we need to be getting away from burning wood for pleasure, as burning wood destroys the planet. We need more modern, intelligent, forward thinking incense makers who are exploring alternative combustibles, and less harmful aromatics.
Available from Aromandise, or Padma Store, or other outlets.
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