Hall of Fame: Indian Incense

This page is a list of the finest in Indian incenses, generally those in the masala, durbar, champa and flora styles. It will be periodically edited to add and remove incenses with the goal that the list improves over time, only featuring the very best of the style. Recommendations for this page are very welcome, there are dozens of incenses in this style and my exploration is by no means complete. There are no price breakdowns for these incenses as nearly all of them are well under $10 and usually less than $5 a package, unless one is buying in bulk. Certain incense styles are common across companies and virtually 90-95% similar among brands; when this occurs, they will be listed on the same bullet.

where x=a common letter, *x denotes incenses of very similar qualities.

19 Comments

  1. connie said,

    November 1, 2009 at 9:16 am

    wher can i buye them in germanny????

    Reply

  2. Robert Green said,

    October 12, 2009 at 4:29 pm

    Hello. I just discovered you [this site]today, but you can bet that I will be around for a while as I would strongly consider myself an incense officianado[pronounced ADDICT] lol right? Anyway I wanted to share a real favorite of mine in hopes that you have not already tried it and I’ve just introduced you to your new favorite, it is by”Song of India” And the particular favorite of mine is “India Temple Incense” it is very powerful, but not overwhelming in any of its’ attributes. Let me know what you think and I’ll be back. Sincerely ,Robert Green

    Reply

    • Mike said,

      October 13, 2009 at 7:20 am

      Hi Robert, thanks for dropping by and contributing. I have a mini review of Song of India somewhere on the site, it’s not for me personally but I’ve definitely run across people who like it.

      Reply

    • Janet said,

      October 19, 2009 at 5:37 pm

      Thanks, Robert….
      Heard of it but haven’t tried it – gotta put that one the list!

      Reply

  3. Janet said,

    September 27, 2009 at 7:32 am

    Mike,
    I noticed a couple of additions above to the pure incense line, and wondered if you could help me out, without straying into ‘review’ territory.
    Of the many varieties I have tried, the Vrindivan Flower is the only one I have not at least liked almost immediately, and I’m wondering what I am missing. I love the green, camphorous flower type, but the perfume on this just seems thin and almost soapy to me, and overwhelmed by the woody base scent. I’m even wondering if I got an off batch! What are you getting from this one that makes it a hall of famer?
    Also, have you tried the Absolute Rosewood as well as the Connoisseur? I had a bit of a slow start with the Absolute (just because of pre-conceived notions), but really warmed to it, and would like to try the Connoisseur if there is an appreciable difference.
    Thanks, as always, for your help and guidance!

    Reply

    • Mike said,

      September 28, 2009 at 8:04 am

      Hi Janet. First of all, I’ll be reviewing all of the Pure Incense line eventually, thanks to the company and Beth at Essence, so I’ll get into more specifics as I go. Hopefully the first installment will be up by the end of the week. As to hall of fame entries, it’s definitely a list in process, so there will be probably times I’ll jump the gun and add something prematurely, take it away and such. With the Vrindavan Flower, I was immediately impressed by it’s almost lime-like citrus nature, to my nose it smelled completely different than anything else, which is often a good reason for it to be featured (it also had an intensity and density I liked right off the bat). However, I think you’re probably right it has a soapy quality to it, although to my nose it wasn’t the sort of soapiness that has a bitterness to it so I didn’t start noticing it right away. So who knows if it will last – I doubt it’s an off batch. Perhaps, also, I found it quite superior to the Krishna incense of the same name.

      I have tried both the Rosewoods. One thing I’ll stress in my Pure Incense reviews is that the difference between the two lines, as they say, is the base quantity of charcoal and vanilla in the mix. With the Absolute range the vanilla in particular, is increased, and it blends with whatever scent is on tap and I think that this is as much of a factor in the differences as the increased oil content in the Connoisseur line. So with the Rosewood Absolute it’s definitely sharing more time with the vanilla than the Connoisseur is, which I thought was a lot more distinctly rosewood. I do like both and undoubtedly I’ll have more to say as I get used to them both, so far I haven’t burned enough to get a really distinct sense of either for review. But my general impression across the line is there’s always an appreciable difference in the Connoisseur line, I think down to the one they’re superior incenses.

      Reply

      • Janet said,

        September 28, 2009 at 9:20 am

        Thanks so much, Mike!
        I will revisit the Vrindivan Flower again, I guess the intensity is what I have been missing, it actually seemed rather dull to me – maybe because I expected something very highly perfumed, and it didn’t strike me that way.

        Maybe it is the added vanilla that originally made the Absolute Rosewood seem like a variation, rather than true Rosewood, when I first tried it. I look forward to trying the other version.

        I appreciate your input, as always…..

        Reply

  4. Pinjie said,

    June 6, 2009 at 4:19 pm

    Hi, Mike,

    I wonder if it’s possible to indicate whether a particular product has bamboo cores or not? I always wanted to try Indian incense but was intimidated by the cores and the synthetic fragrance. I guess people who know Indian incense know just by the name of the product.

    Pinjie

    Reply

    • Mike said,

      June 8, 2009 at 12:10 pm

      Hi Pinjie – Well first of all, very very few Indian incenses don’t have a core stick of some kind and I’d assume they’re usually bamboo. I think that’s the defining difference between Indian incense and Japanese and Tibetan styles (the only Japanese line I can think of that uses them are one of the Nippon Kodo lines). But I think overall this is sort of a similar question to whether an incense is synthetic or not. The ultimate answer, unless we’re explicity told one way or another, is we don’t truly know, we can only guess. But I’d assume if the review has Indian as a category that it does indeed have a stick that the masala is rolled around rather than the spaghetti-like extrusion the Japanese and other South/East Asian countries use. Certainly every Indian incense I’ve reviewed here so far has a stick. – Mike

      Reply

      • Pinjie said,

        June 8, 2009 at 5:45 pm

        Thanks for the reply, Mike! Do you ever smell the bamboo core when burning the incense stick?

        Pinjie

        Reply

        • Mike said,

          June 9, 2009 at 10:06 am

          Yes, but not particularly often, mostly on the poorer masalas. I think when Indian incense is heavily perfumed, like a lot of champas are, whatever impurities are completely drowned out.

          Reply

  5. Mike said,

    December 9, 2008 at 1:54 pm

    A few recent additions to note:

    The Mother’s India Fragrances – Ganesh Nagchampa – possibly the best durbar I’ve tried in quite some time, with a lavender fused perfume that’s both mellow and rich. Can’t wait to get more than a small sample of this, it’s got a nice intuitive vibe to it.

    Nandi Divine Flora – Many Nandi’s are charcoal based florals, not particularly bad, but this champa-ish scent is truly divine and very different from most Indians I’ve tried.

    R-Expo Bam Champa – The closest I remember to the original Blue Box Nag Champa before the adulterations ruined it, this is a really great almost nostalgic experience. The company does some nice soaps as well.

    Shah Agarbatti Sai Deep – Very close to the Incense from India Shanti Sai Flora (I may combine the two), a richer and spicier variation on the original Sai Flora. Thick and potent.

    I also removed Incense from India Deja Vu, it wasn’t quite what I remembered which means I probably had it confused with something else. Confirmation on Amber Resin (very lovely), Enchanted Garden (a floral Nag Champa that puts Valley of the Roses to shame), Fantasy (sort of a saffron infused champa) and Golden Frankincense (indulgent and glorious).

    More to come as I continue to (re) explore this potent style. I think the Raj Laxmi Nag Champa might be up here soon too as well as Incense from India Silver Temple.

    Reply

  6. Mike said,

    October 6, 2008 at 8:20 am

    Cool, thanks for sharing. That’s been my assumption with Shrinivas products: natural base, with combo of synthetic and natural essential oils. I burned a stick of Aastha over the weekend, still really like this one.

    Nectar has been around for seemingly forever, so it sounds like change in box isn’t a bad idea. With these guys I really wish they’d standardize their box weights though, it almost seems like every different incense has a different box size! Sometimes an incense with the same name will have at least two incarnations. Thankfully they’re all so inexpensive,

    Reply

  7. Claire said,

    October 6, 2008 at 2:59 am

    Got a reply this morning about the Shrinivas Sugandhalaya / Satya Nectar & Aastha incenses:

    Nectar is one of our old products and on checking, we find that none of our distributors in UK ordered it recently. However we are reintroducing the product in a new pack and we hope it will widely available once it is reintroduced.

    Regarding your query about the ingredients in ‘Nectar’ and ‘Aastha’, we use natural ingredients and the perfume is a blend of synthetic and natural essential oils.

    Reply

  8. Claire said,

    October 4, 2008 at 2:08 pm

    Thanks Steve, I’ve dropped them an email. If I get a reply I’ll post the details here so that other UK customers know where to look / what to look for.

    Reply

  9. Steve said,

    October 4, 2008 at 12:04 pm

    Hey Claire – strange, Aastha seems readily available there but I see what you mean about Nectar. Looking at their boxes, neither has any information on ingredients used. The Aastha box does have an email address for the head office in Mumbai: nagraj@bom3.vsnl.net.in

    Perhaps someone at the email address can be of help. Good luck!

    Steve

    Reply

  10. Claire said,

    October 4, 2008 at 11:22 am

    I did a Google for the Shrinivas Sugandhalaya / Satya Nectar but got NO results at all for the UK. I wonder if it is marketed under a different name in the UK?

    Does anyone know if the Aastha & Nectar are made from all natural ingredients (i.e. no synthetic oils)?

    Reply

  11. Steve said,

    September 18, 2008 at 3:36 pm

    Aastha & Nectar – such awesome rich, sweet, vanilla treats. A stick of Nectar will fill the room like curtains of baked-cookie goodness :grin: These are 2 of the less than a dozen Indian incenses that survived my discovery of Japanese incense. Need to burn these more often, if I can stop burning Tibetan Medical College’s Nectar long enough – hmmmm, a good name for an incense blend, apparently. Wonder if Baieido or Shoyeido make a Nectar…

    Steve

    Reply

  12. New Champa Hall of Fame Page « Olfactory Rescue Service said,

    August 18, 2008 at 9:24 am

    [...] Incense Notes/Samplers) I added a new page yesterday, which you can access just to your left or here, that’s sort of a starter page to recommend the best incenses in the Indian champa, durbar or [...]

    Reply

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