Olfactory Rescue Service

Almost two years ago I reviewed Kuengacholing Peozokhang’s Yellow Tara. Incense Tradition’s Bhutanese incenses are not often sorted by the company or the “incense house” that makes them, so when I ordered a batch of the Green Tara, I never put it together with the Yellow and then later ordered the Yellow in new packaging before realizing it was the same incense I previously reviewed. So I have added a photo of that new packaging to the Yellow Tara review, although in this case there was no need to update the review, it appears to be exactly the same incense. There does appear to be a trade off in the packaging though, it probably trades less environmental impact for extreme ease of access.

While I still remain somewhat nonplussed by the Yellow Tara (I do like the sort of banana like note in it but find its finish a little bitter) I loved the Green Tara enough to order a backup, in fact it’s now probably one of my favorite Bhutanese incenses, even if it’s more or less nothing like any of the usual traditionals (it actually feels a bit more “mainstream” than most of what you find at I-T) and perhaps a bit more akin to a better Nepali incense in style/composition. I am probably a general fan of anything green-ish, so keep that in mind if you are not. I would suspect where the green shows up here is in some gentle top oil mix that is reminiscent of forest-y (this should really be a word) scents (resins, crushed needles etc); however, the middle is just slightly swanky in the way some monastery incenses are (and really how no other Bhutanese incenses usually come close to), but it’s a nice way of ensuring this doesn’t go completely campfire.

The incense is probably more formulated for the Green Tara ritual than specifically for aromatic depth. I suspect this has been tilted at mild for its audience, it’s something I’ve noticed about a lot of the mainline Nepali incenses over the years, but this combination of elements really ends up with something quite pleasant and different. I do find that this one works better upstairs for me closer to the window, it seems to bring out the top notes a lot more than the base. Ultimately this isn’t an incense I’d expect great depth or complexity from, it’s just really solid on a modest sort of level if you want a Tibetan that sort of edges in a general evergreen direction. I’ve tried too many mainstream Nepali incenses that look like this and contain inferior oil mixes on cheap wood, so it’s nice to find something that really works. Another comparison might be the most recent version of the Mandala Trading Himalayan Herbal Incense. While this isn’t nearly that complex it does marry the green and slight swank together in a similar fashion.

[10/26/23 edit to include new packaging. Old photo is now at the bottom. I accidentally bought a second roll of this, not realizing it was the same incense, but the review is still completely accurate.] We have already made a stop at Kuengacholing Peozokhang with their classic Bhutanese pink stick that bears the mark of Gelephu town. This somewhat longer Yellow Tara is an intriguing and very different, mildly spicy, heavy on the sandalwood stick that really does has some yellow associations. For instance I really couldn’t get the thoughts of a banana note out of my head. The pink “Gelephu” is a pretty well blended scent and so is this one, very homogenous throughout the burn. It actually reminds me a lot more of generic Nepali incenses except the ingredients here are a lot more resolute and there’s no feeling of filler wood in the mix. It’s got maybe a bit of a harsh campfire note on the outside but there’s so much sandalwood in it it never gets too heavy. And like most good Tibetan incenses there’s a fresh feeling to it, although I would guess this could be as much as some level of say saffron or rhodendron in the mix. It’s nicely done, more of a step away from traditional monastery incenses but also a little different for a Bhutanese stick.