Jahagirdar First Choice Rose Oudh

Jahagirdar are a 7th generation Indian attar business who set up in Pune in 1850, and became an incense house in 1943 - they have their incense shop next door to their attar shop in Budhwar Peth Rd. In 2017 they set up First Choice Fragrances with their own factory. The samples I have (sent by Julian of The Incense Atelier) are more in the Arabian/Muslim tradition of Indian incense than the Hindu - more perfumed, more oudh focused, richer, deeper, more oil based and decorative than the Hindu sandalwood focused which is more aimed at tradition and ritual. The spiritual value of the ingredients. Hindu incense for the temples. Muslim/Arabian incense for the palaces.

Muslim incense is a style that doesn't get exported to the West anywhere near as much as the Hindu style, unless the incense house is Hindu but makes a few Arabian style incense sticks for their customers. It's a shame, because I feel I am often more in tune with this richer, deeper, oil intense style of incense. I think the West is largely unaware of the beauty and power of this style of incense. 

I like the long history of Jahagirdar, and I like the Jahagirdar name, which is redolent of Maharashtra/Karnataka history, of Persian Mughals, and of a beautiful, proud culture, and I like the packet the Rose Oudh is sold in. I don't like the First Choice name. Put bluntly, it is cheap, trivial, and naff. And these samples are in glossy plastic sleeves which feels more suitable for commercial perfume-dipped incense than for the masala creations of a traditional incense house in Pune. The impression given by the name and the glossy sleeves is rather negative, but when the sticks are pulled out. Ah! the oil heavy sticks, bursting with fragrance tell their own story - a story in marked contrast to the First Choice name and the shiny sleeves. 

The scent on the stick is beautiful. I've had it out on my desk for several days as I got distracted by other things, and forgot to put it back. But it is still fresh and juicy and ravishing. A true royal decoration. Oil heavy, woody, and gloriously, expansively floral - blooming red Damask rose petals. I love the fragrance opposites of the musky alcoholic fermenting wood and the sumptuous airy, floating, gorgeous rose. Male and female. Yin and yang. Held in exquisite balance. I don't often (ever?) call an incense fragrance a work of art, but this comes damn close. This is consummate perfumer's skill. Seven generations of attar makers in the city in India renowned for the high quality of its traditional incense have brought this about. Skill, tradition, experience, and pride, result in the most divine incense.  

The scent on the burn is heady but softly, smoothly, like a fluffy eiderdown, heady. It tenderly embraces. This is a cloud of fragrance that is ready to transport the willing. A rare delight. All the cold throw scents on the stick are here in harmony during the burn - that awesome balance of woods and roses. A succulent rose drenched bukhoor style incense. An awesome marriage of India and Persia.  A true beauty. 

Only available in India. ₹300 for 100g, direct from Jahagirdar, or from GroovyFragrances.

Date: Mar 2026   Score: 50 

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