Stamford Pakeezah

 

I started reviewing this Pakeezah over a week ago. It's a lovely incense, I initially felt it was a legacy of a collaboration by the UK importers Aargee (now Stamford London) with Satya in 2011 to create some new fragrances. Unfortunately the website which reported on the collaboration, along with the scents they created together,  is no longer active, and there's no copy on Archive.org. [However, it appears my speculation was off, as noted in the comments below, two people feel this is made by Padmini, and I have reached out to Padmini to source their Pakeezah.]

My hesitation with the review was partly the failed attempt to locate details of the collaboration in 2011, and my firm thought on encountering the incense that it was obviously a Satya product. Yes, it is possible that it is a Satya. There is a long standing and ongoing relationship between Aargee/Stamford and Satya, there is (now lost) documentation of the collaboration on new and unique fragrances, and the packaging is in the style of Satya. Normally, however, Stamford mention Satya on their collaborations. And I've not known other instances of Satya doing "white label" work, where they are not named on the box. However, when I opened the box the impression I got was, "Ah, Satya." But then I questioned why I thought the incense smelled like Satya. Indeed, there are a number of incense makers in Bangalore who make incense in the same style as Satya. And then I got into a foggy discussion with myself about that handful of folks who are dismissive of Satya, and yet declare how much they like other Bangalore babes who copy Satya, or at least make their incense in the same way as Satya. And I wondered if there actually is something distinctive about Satya, or are we all just reacting to the Satya name (negatively or positively). There's various bad things said about Satya, largely due to what happened when the brothers  split up, and Nagraj Setty set up a separate Satya business in Mumbai, contracting out the manufacture of the Satya sticks so they were not the same quality. For a while they were appalling quality. Thankfully we didn't get much of that here in the UK, where distributors largely stayed loyal to Balkrishna Setty in Bangalore, who was still making incense in the original factory to the same recipes. But the damage had been done, and I've heard bizarre stories about Satya using carcinogenic chemicals, or that they no longer use halmaddi, etc. And once those stories get out there, people tend to believe them, and then find it hard to shift from them, even when evidence and logic is available (there is an entire court case - which ended this year - which details the story of Balkrishna suing Nagraj because of using poor production methods, nothing there about carcinogenic chemicals or halmaddi, and isn't it curious that the halmaddi shortage only appears to have impacted the quality of Satya incense). 

Anyway, I just went down the rabbit hole of thoughts about why I felt this incense was "obviously" Satya, when my experience is that other than a general sense of decent and well made incense I hadn't really felt Satya to be particularly distinctive. Some Satya scents really work for me, while others don't, and most are somewhere in the middle. I often think of The Judgement of Paris where French, UK, and American wine experts did a blind taste test, so the French could prove once and for all that French wine was the best in the world because of the specific terroir of the French soil and climate and age of the vines. The result is that the American wines did better on the blind tasting than the French wines. I'd like to try a "Judgement of Bangalore" to see if I, and other people, could pick out Satya from Goloka, Vijayshree, Namaste India, Shroff, etc, and where we'd place the various incenses on an appreciation list  It would be fun at least! 

Anyhow. Back to the Pakeezah. The word means clean or pure, and is usually used as a feminine name. As such, I would assume the noses who blended this fragrance mix would set out to make something clean, light, and feminine. Florals would be preferred over woods, for example. And perhaps it wouldn't be too sexy with musk and resins, though might have light fruits along with jasmine.  

The fragrance on the stick is heavy with oils in a manner similar to incenses named "floras", and is quite heady and floral with soaked, fermenting fruits, and an abundance of sweet powdery sherbet. It is feminine, though an emphatic and heavy feminine rather than something light and delicate. Perhaps more Marilyn Monroe than Tinker Bell. I find it a rewarding and exciting fragrance, with a teasing promise of the burn to come. I suspect this incense will need plenty of air to let it breathe and develop. 

The fragrance on the burn is certainly not shy, and needs a large room to avoid being overwhelmed. It is, to me, distinctively flora, and - thinking about it now - is way more distinctively flora than it is Satya. Indeed, I doubt if anyone would associate it with Satya if it had not been suggested beforehand. The florals are petrol infused - very hot and lively and somewhat intoxicating. This is a tropical experience. Sandalwood is coming through - not dark and oily like patchouli, nor white and light like Asian incense, but hovering somewhere in between. Masses of it, giving depth and solidity and meaning to the florals, which are heady rose and jasmine. This is a great incense. A really great incense. I love it. 

Available for £1.30 from IndianSpice, £1.95 from Olivia'sGifts,   There's also a Padmini Pakeezah available. (Which may be the same stick as this Stamford Pakeezah, see comments below). 

Date: Sept 2025   Score: 46

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Stamford London