Incense in The Wind: September 2025

Tuesday, 30 September 2025

Temple of Aromas

I have just (September 2025) become aware of a new UK based incense house, Temple of Aromas. Derrick, the owner, sent me some samples. The style of the sticks reminds me of the foil wrapped incense supplied by Zam Zam of London, and by Balarama of Thailand. Indeed, my assumption was that the incense had been sourced from either Zam Zam or Balarama, and was being labelled Temple of Aromas in the same way as Temple of Incense, Bhagwan, Prasad, and other own brand traders are operating, and I thought no more of it. I asked Derrick "So what is your story? When did Temple of Aromas open? How did you get interested in incense?" so I could put some background to Temple of Aromas.

Derrick's response intrigued me. He told me that he had started in 2022 because he was disappointed with the quality and scent range of incense available. He told me: "I decided to source suppliers of natural oils from around the globe and began making my own." I clarified that: "So you make the sticks yourself?" And Derrick confirmed: "Yes. In London". I offered the suggestion that he bought blank sticks and dipped them himself in the same way that Wild Berry do in Ohio. Derrick was reluctant to go into details, so I said that I would say in my review that I thought that the sticks were from Balarama or Zam Zam, but that he had informed me that he made them himself in London.

Temple of Aromas sell incense in three packet designs - Premium, Premium Oud, and Luxury. The Luxury packaging contains Premium or Premium Oud, but in larger quantities - it's not a different style or quality of incense.

Reviews

Temple of Aromas Rosemary & Sage (P)
Sep 2025 - Score: 34

Temple of Aromas Black Opium (P)
Sep 2025 - Score: 31

Temple of Aromas Lemongrass (P)
Sep 2025 - Score: 25

Temple of Aromas Blue Hawaii (P)
Sep 2025 - Score: 24

Temple of Aromas Black Orchid (P)
Oct 2025 - Score: 22

Temple of Aromas Black Oud (P)
Sep 2025 - Score: 21

Temple of Aromas Cherry Love (P)
Oct 2025 - Score: 19

Reviews: 7
Top score: 34

Low score: 19

Average: 27

Conclusion: I like the idea of an enterprising individual dipping incense in London. But I can't see much difference between the sticks that Temple of Aromas sells and the sticks that Zam Zam sell (which I have long assumed are made by Balarama, though need to check on that), other than Temple of Aromas are packaged in cardboard, tend to be more expensive, and appear weaker. Derrick's reluctance to provide any details of how he makes the incense, and to become defensive when asked, means there is no evidence of Temple of Aromas making incense other than Derrick's assertion that he does so.

***

Foil wrapped incense

Temple of Aromas Black Oud

Highly perfumed aroma on the stick. Sweet, floral, and fruity. Very attractive, though the cool volatility combined with the commercial sweetness can be a little off-putting. The scent on the burn is a little faint, and contains the smell of smouldering paper from the wood paste. Generally over time the fragrance from these sort of sticks tends to establish itself over the smell of the smouldering wood paste, but in this case the fragrance is struggling, and eventually I lose interest.

The same or similar sticks under the brand name of Zam Zam can be bought in the UK from various places including direct from Zam Zam for £4.99. This Temple of Aromas branded stick can be bought from Temple of Aromas for £5.

Date: Sept 2025 Score: 21

***

Foil wrapped incense

The best oudh incense

Temple of Aromas

Mount Athos Sandalwood

Frankincense resin from Mount Athos in Greece. Mount Athos is a collection of monasteries which specialise in blending pellets of frankincense with fragrant white powders, which they create themselves to their own recipes. This blend is named Sandalwood - the pellets of frankincense resin are coated with the white powder which has been scented with sandalwood oils.

Oooh. This has a lovely scent - lots of warm Mediterranean pine, blended with cool ozone (the fresh breeze from the sea). Nips of fresh orange peel, a hint of petrol, a sun-warmed wooden door, and a wisp of church incense. I have been somewhat transported to walking out of a pine wood on a cliff above the Mediterranean sea where I come upon an old sun-bleached church, and I'm standing by the door, where a faint scent of frankincense comes from the church inside. There's a sense of lavender and thyme, which grow around the church.

This is not an actual church, and this isn't an actual memory. This is an image my senses are giving me as this resin warms in my burner, and they are coalescing into a narrative like a dream. Images constructed from the olfactory notes of the resin and fragrant powder. I know that some people see fragrance as colour, and others have memories and moments recalled, as Proust did with his madeleines. Scent has subtle yet compelling powers over us. Scent can seduce us, overpower us, or give us courage. I love the ability to sense odours, and would hate to lose my sense of smell.

I love the freshness of this fragrance, and the images it is giving me of being outdoors in the sunshine and drenched in beautiful scents. This is a very welcome incense in our home.

Date: Sept 2025 Score: 40

***

Mount Athos Incense

Resins

Frankincense

Mount Athos Smyrna

Frankincense resin from Mount Athos in Greece. Mount Athos is a collection of monasteries which specialise in blending pellets of frankincense with fragrant powders, which they create themselves to their own recipes. This blend is called Smyrna - named after the Ancient Greek city of Smyrna in what is today Turkey. Smyrna held one of the Seven Churches of the Revelation, mentioned in the New Testament.

The powder is sweet, slightly floral, honeyed, perfumed, musky, pleasant, mildly volatile, and leaning toward a cologne, though the whole is essentially feminine and delicate. It blends well with the citric and resinous notes of the frankincense producing a sweet, delicate, musky accord with citric and floral notes. If there's a complaint, it's that the accord is a little too focused on the perfumed aspects of the powder so this perhaps may not be appreciated by those who just want a natural resin fragrance. For those who perhaps want to ring the changes, and have a little fun with their frankincense, this is delightful.

Date: Sept 2025 Score: 37

***

Mount Athos Incense

Resins

Mount Athos Incense

Mount Athos is a Greek peninsular-island named after the mountain at its far end. It is a religious area with 20 monasteries, and, like the Vatican, it has autonomy to run things its own way, which means only men over the age of 18 are allowed to visit. Incense made in the area is popular among Catholics. The monks specialise in frankincense, a tree resin from the Boswellia tree family which grows in parts of Africa and India. The Boswellia tree doesn't grow in the Mount Athos region, but the monks there have developed their own recipes for grading and blending the resins with fragranced white powders. Mount Athos frankincense is sold to tourists and online to church suppliers and churches.

Reviews

Mount Athos Sandalwood (R)
Sep 2025 - Score: 40

Mount Athos Frankincense
Holy Great Monastery Vatopedi
Aroma Amber (R)
Dec 2020 - Score: 38

Mount Athos Smyrna (R)
Sep 2025 - Score: 37

Cenacle Mount Athos Cypress Tree (R)
Sept 2021 - Score: 32

Mount Athos Frankincense (R)

Dec 2022 - Score: 12

Reviews: 5

Top score: 40

Low score: 12

Average: 32

***

The Best Incense Makers

Incense by Country

Monday, 29 September 2025

Top Op Loban resin

I've been burning a lot of perfumed incense today, so I wanted something pure and natural to clear the air, and refresh the energy. So I rummaged in my resin box and came up with this old packet of loban resin that is marked Best Before Mar 2020. The bag was sealed, and from what I have read, the fragrant qualities of the resin should not diminish. However, I think it is worth noting that it is over five years beyond the time the seller, Top Op in Bedfordshire, UK, marked as best to use. Though, as Top Op mainly sell dried foods and spices, and the bag contained food warnings regarding allergies, small children choking on nuts, etc, I think that the Best Before is just a standard "we are not responsible if you die because you ate this beyond our safety warning" notice.

Though there is some powder (which I burn first), the bulk of the bag contains some very big, and hard, chunks of resin, and looks and feels more like pieces of stone or rock than resin. As the powder warms in my electric burner, it bubbles and releases some quite citric aromas. Sweet and juicy, touched with vanilla, though also kind of neutral and chalky. It is a bright, uplifting, fresh scent. Some resinous nature, though not musky. There are touches of pine and touches of stone fruits like peach and apricot. There is some sharp-sweet notes like balsamic vinegar.

I like this. I like this a lot. It has cleansed and energised the air, and has provided a subtle range of aromas that has stimulated the mind while refreshing and relaxing the body. I don't think loban is regarded as one of the great resins [following several conversations, including the one in the comments below this post, I'm noting that loban is regarded in the West as the Indian term for benzoin, or any tree tree resin, but in reality loban is a resin mix, possibly made in Malaysia or Indonesia using various guarded recipes, which Thomas Kinkele says may be termed "Calcutta block benzoin"]. It lacks sensuality and depth. But it is quite lovely, and filled the house with fresh, tingling energy. Yes, I like this a lot.

Date: Sep 2025 Score: 42

***

Loban / Sambrani

Resins

Temple of Aromas Lemongrass

Temple of Aromas is a new UK trader brand selling the same style of incense as the foil wrapped incense supplied by Zam Zam of London, and made by Balarama of Thailand; though the owner, Derrick, who sent me some samples, tells me that he makes the incense himself in London with "natural oils from around the globe". The black "luxury" box is used when customers pay £5 for 25 sticks, instead of £4 for 17 sticks. The same or similar sticks under the brand name of Zam Zam can be bought in the UK from various places including direct from Zam Zam for £1.50 for 17 sticks, but wrapped in foil rather than packaged in cardboard.

The scent on the stick is rich with lemongrass oil. Fresh and uplifting. When first lit, the lemongrass fragrance is partly obscured by the aroma of the smouldering wood paste, though gradually as the stick burns, and the scent builds up and remains in the air, the lemongrass fragrance dominates, touched with a memory of coconut. It's a nice scent. Rather simple, but it does convey the essence of an lemongrass oil.

Date: Sept 2025 Score: 25

***

Foil wrapped incense

Lemongrass & Citronella scents

Temple of Aromas

Temple of Aromas Blue Hawaii

Conflicting scent on the stick. Quite sharp and volatile with coconut, jasmine, vanilla, and tropical fruits, lemons and pineapple. It's something of a mad clash. There's little harmony here. And it's very synthetic and chemical.

The scent on the burn is more musky - initially the base notes come from the smouldering wood paste, though as the fragrance builds up from the impregnated perfume, the musky coconut base notes emerge. It does, however, remain muddled and chemical. Subtle vanilla, honey, and chamomile notes emerge, which lift the incense, but not quite enough to make this a particularly interesting or pleasurable incense.

This Temple of Aromas branded stick can be bought from Temple of Aromas for £4.

Date: Sept 2025 Score: 24

***

Foil wrapped incense

Temple of Aromas

Temple of Aromas Black Opium

Black Opium is based on the 1977 Opium perfume by Yves Saint Laurent. I have reviewed several incenses which use the scent, and I generally like them. This is bang on target. A professionally made scent utilising decent synthetic aroma compounds to replicate Black Opium. There is some cool volatility on the stick, though not off-putting, as it feels appropriate, and also projects the aroma around the stick. Vanilla, milky coffee, white lilies come to the fore, underscored by white sandalwood. Nice.

The scent on the burn mirrors very closely the scent on the stick, though initially the fragrance is wrapped in the smell of the smouldering wood paste. Balarama generally uses powders of cypress, tabu bark, and Chinese juniper, and there is a citric and pine note to the smouldering wood smell. Initially the fragrance accord is mild and delicate, but as the stick burns (and they do burn for a very long time) the scent builds up. If leaving the stick to burn down fully, depending on individual taste, it may help to have some decent fresh air flow in the room. As the burn progresses some other scents waft in and out, such as black cherry, and fermented fruit. All in all, an attractive incense which I like.

The same or similar sticks under the brand name of Zam Zam can be bought in the UK from various places including direct from Zam Zam for £1.50. This Temple of Aromas branded stick can be bought from Temple of Aromas for £5.

Date: Sept 2025 Score: 31

***

Foil wrapped incense

Opium

Temple of Aromas

Sunday, 28 September 2025

Temple of Aromas Rosemary & Sage

I have just become aware of a new UK based incense house, Temple of Aromas. Derrick, the owner, sent me some samples. The style of the sticks reminds me of the foil wrapped incense supplied by Zam Zam of London, and by Balarama of Thailand. Indeed, my assumption was that the incense had been sourced from either Zam Zam or Balarama, and was being labelled Temple of Aromas in the same way as Temple of Incense, Bhagwan, Prasad, and other own brand traders are operating, and I thought no more of it. I asked Derrick "So what is your story? When did Temple of Aromas open? How did you get interested in incense?" so I could put some background to Temple of Aromas.

Derrick's response intrigued me. He told me that he had started in 2002 because he was disappointed with the quality and scent range of incense available. He told me: "I decided to source suppliers of natural oils from around the globe and began making my own." I clarified that: "So you make the sticks yourself?" And Derrick confirmed: "Yes. In London". I offered the suggestion that he bought blank sticks and dipped them himself in the same way that Wild Berry do in Ohio. Derrick was reluctant to go into details, so I said that I would say in my review that I thought that the sticks were made by Balarama, but that he had informed me that he made them himself in London.

Temple of Aromas sell incense in three packet designs - Premium, Premium Oud, and Luxury. The Luxury packaging contains Premium or Premium Oud, but in larger quantities - it's not a different style or quality of incense. This Rosemary & Sage is part of the Traditional range, and is sold as a Premium Incense for £4.00. The sticks are 12 inches long, with 9 inches of machine extruded wood powder infused with perfume. The scent on the stick is pleasant - gently but sharply volatile, with a cologne freshness and a distinct awareness of sage, though less so of the rosemary, but that is there as well. The accord is fresh, herby, and attractive.

I find the oils on the stick attractive, though the scent doesn't initially make much of an impression when burned. It is there, though somewhat modified by the aroma of the smouldering wood. It reminds me of Chinese incense: delicate scents infused in wood paste. I do gradually tune into the rosemary & sage, and it is an acceptable blend, and it grows in strength over time. For those who like the cleansing nature of sage, and the uplifting nature of rosemary, though are uncomfortable with the strength and energy of a smudge, then these sticks would work well. They do burn a long time, and the aroma of the rosemary and sage does build over time, so by the end I am quite satisfied with the way they have informed and cleansed the house.

Yes, these are decent sticks. They have seduced me. Similar sticks under the brand name of Zam Zam can be bought in the UK from places such as BazaarBarnstable for £1.89, or Zam Zam for £1.50.

Date: Sept 2025 Score: 34

***

Foil wrapped incense

White Sage

Temple of Aromas

GIRI Namo

GIRI is an Indian online shop specialising in bhakti (religious devotion) supplies. It is based in Chennai in Tamil Nadu, though doesn't make incense itself, so sources from incense factories across India, such as Aadinath Enterprises of Ahmedabad, and Parimal of Bangalore, which it sells under the Namo brand name. As with Mangaldeep, they show on the packets who has made the incense for them.

They sell standard machine-extruded perfumed sticks for everyday use. They have the familiar scent of synthetic aroma compounds, but are decently made room fresheners.

Reviews