Temple of Incense Bombay Blues

 

All the Temple of Incense sticks I've had have been pleasantly perfumed on the stick, most have been modestly dusted, and some have been extruded, such as this one. This stick is gently perfumed - quite herby, grassy, faintly resinous, intriguingly elusive; possibly the most interesting and sophisticated of the scent fragrances I've yet encountered from ToI. Generally they tend to be quite up front, sweet, and commercial - immediately likeable. This one doesn't quite have that immediate appeal, but instead has the more lasting and satisfying (for me) attraction of a fragrance that doesn't blurt everything out at once, but unfolds in a quiet, subtle, and interesting manner.  Over time the vanilla comes through, but in a benzoin manner rather than straight vanilla; though the herbaceous qualities are still present, hovering between a fresh lawn on a spring morning, glistening with dew, and a bag of home-grown marijuana. There's also milk chocolate and mint. The nature of the scent puts me in mind of some incenses by Naturveda, a Pondicherry based incense house. Indeed, thinking back, there was a Pondicherry quality to some of the other ToI incenses I've reviewed recently, some burned - a dry, twiggy quality, with the sense of re-used resin. 

  

Available from ToI at £10 for a box of 20 sticks
or from Exotic Incense for $13.50.

The ToI blurb is: "Bombay Blues incense sticks are best for relaxation. They’re very grounding, especially for those times of contentment and contemplation. The sun is setting and there’s finally a little space to think. Super zen, super chilled. Soft, dry with a sweet note. Light patchouli, geranium, khus and a lift of mint."  Khus is vetiver, which is used in perfume and incense as a fixative, though has a woody, earthy, musky quality of its own. I've only occasionally seen it named as an ingredient - though it may be used fairly frequently for its fragrance, but not identified as such because it has qualities akin to patchouli and amber and musk and woods. When I have seen it named, it has been in incenses, such as this Bombay Blues, aimed at the Western market. 

The fragrance on the burn is pleasant though modest. I find it very likeable and, as the blurb says, relaxing. For me it presents as a soft benzoin incense, touched with gentle woods and florals, that don't quite come into the open, but soften and enhance the benzoin. There's a lot to like about this Bombay Blues, and I suspect it's one that I would like even more with repeat burnings. 

Date: Nov 2025   Score: 36

***

Temple of Incense

Reviewed in USA

Temple of Incense Coconut Dream

 

Coconut potentially would be a pleasant ingredient in an incense fragrance mix, though as a mono-scent I've not had many really positive experiences - Fumino Coconut has been the one I enjoyed the most. Sadly, as with Temple of Incense, we don't know who made it - other than  "a team of expert ladies at our third-generation family factory in Bangalore". 

The scent on the stick of this Coconut Dream is quite promising. It is woody, dry, quite gourmand, with a vanilla and coconut sweetness. There's not a lot going on, but it is attractive. I pulled out a stick of Fumino Coconut, and the scent on the stick is fascinating. A little perfumed, yes, with some off-notes, but there is a lot going on, which tends to catch my interest - especially with scents just escaping definition: magic, swirling, mists of scent. I like those. But, fair do, the Coconut Dream scent is more conventional and acceptable, and will have the wider appeal. 

  

Available from ToI at £10 for a box of 20 sticks
or from Exotic Incense for $13.50.

Blurb says: "Proper coconutty fragrance for those tropical island feels. Coconut Dream incense sticks are fruity and nutty, with a silky vanilla-like sweetness – just how you’d expect them to be." 

The scent on the burn is woody with coconut awareness, but more raspy wood than coconut. It's OK, but a little simple. There's not a lot going on, and I find it a little dry for my taste, leaning in the direction of Pondicherry style incense, where it feels a little twiggy with a sense of reused residue waste.  This is not to my taste. It's not bad, and it will serve as an OK room freshener, but there's not a lot here to get me interested or excited. 

Date: Nov 2025   Score: 26

***

Temple of Incense

Reviewed in USA

Coconut incense

Temple of Incense Bengal Beauty

 

Very neat and rounded charcoal paste on a lavender tinted bamboo splint. It appears to be extruded, and then hand rolled in the finishing powder. Delicate scent on the stick, a blend of sandalwood, herbs, and vanilla, with some caramel, mint, and light florals in the mix. Attractive. 

   

Available from ToI at £10 for a box of 20 sticks
or from Exotic Incense for $13.50.

The blurb says: "This blend has a rich, warm, and exotic aroma. The deep animalic musk of kasturi combines with the earthy, woody smokiness of khus, creating a grounding base. Vanilla adds a creamy sweetness, while rose brings a fresh, slightly spicy floral touch. Amber ties everything together with its warm, resinous, and slightly powdery depth, making the overall scent luxurious, sensual, and mysterious." 

The scent on the burn is warm and attractive - some benzoin, some mineral, some light musk, closer in style to amber. A little dry. Good stuff which is quite familiar and everyday. Burn enough Indian incense, and you will encounter this accord a few times. It works. More Pune in style than Bangalore, but I have come upon this accord made in various parts of India. 

Date: Nov 2025   Score: 32

***

Temple of Incense

Reviewed in USA

Incense Houses of Pune

 

Pune (previously Poona) is a large city in Western India, a little south east of Mumbai, and a fair bit north of Goa. It is a thriving, busy city, with lots of modern industry. It was controlled and owned by the British, and was the summer capital of the Bombay province.  There is a charm and beauty to much of the architecture in the old regions. 

It is home to some of the most distinctive incense houses in India, whose sticks are frequently used by own brand sellers in both India and the West. Brands such as ToI, Happy Hari, Absolute Bliss, Gokula, Pure,  Primo, Prasad, Bhagwan, Blue Pearl, etc. 

The incense houses

Haridas Madhavdas Sugandhi
Pune, India

Haridas Madhavdas Sugandhi of Pune (HMS) have a long established presence as an Indian incense house, though are best known in the West as the supplier for a number of own brand importers such as TOI, Happy Hari, Primo, Gokula, Bhagwan, etc. They are also recognised for their heavy use of vanilla crystals to strengthen and prolong the incense scent, which tends to give most of their incenses a  sweet vanilla base. 

Incenses: 7
Top score: 44

Low score: 26

Average: 34

*****

DBS of Pune

Reviews: 3 
Top score: 48
Bottom score: 30

Average: 39

*****

Vithaldas Narayandas & Sons
Vinasons of Pune, India

Reviews: 15

Highest score: 47

Lowest score: 23

Average: 37

***

Incense by Country

Temple of Incense Dancing Sufi

 

I love the name. Very evocative, and it seems to suit the sweet vanilla, delicate florals, and soft muskiness of fragrance on the stick. It is a sultry, magical, exotic, and shimmering sort of scent. Very attractive and commercial. The almost outrageous sweetness contained and balanced by the caramel and wood base notes. It is a tad too sweet and girly for my taste, but I am still drawn in and entertained. 

Available from ToI at £10 for a box of 20 sticks
or from Exotic Incense for $13.50. 

The scent on the burn starts with the weight on the base notes, so loses a lot of the allure of the scent on the stick. It does add some spice, however I don't find that a compensation - indeed it pushes me away a little. The burn scent is quite dry and sombre, compared to the joy, lightness, and delicate sweetness  of the scent on the stick. Gradually, as the scent evolves and develops the top notes start to come in, though without the distinct range and balance of the scent on the stick. Its now like a woody patchouli, a masala scent, what in perfume quarters tends to be called "incense" - a familiar and somewhat generic scent. Pleasing, yes, though too everyday to get excited. As the accord develops further the vanilla comes in and wakes it up, and then the floral notes come in, and I feel more settled. Yes, an interesting and alluring scent. It reminds me a little of the original Happy Hari Yoga Sutra range, particularly the Niyama Sutra, which continues to be available from the same source at Padma Store as Niyama Sutra, via Corey of Absolute Bliss who, though Paul Eagle had passed on his sources, took a while to match the right source with the right name - he wondered at first if these Yoga sticks were from the same source (they were not). 

I think it is possible, maybe even likely, that these sticks are from the same source. But then, over the years I have been doing this blog I have found that a number of Indian incenses are similar to each other - this may be because the makers are following the same fragrance ideas, or because they copy each other. All manufacturers, be it beer, baked beans, or beef-burgers, copy each other, so the copying is not unique to Indian incense makers. But it does exist, so it is useful to be aware of it. This stick is similar to the sticks sold in Vrindavan, which bear a resemblance to sticks sold in Pushkar, and to sticks made in Pune by HMS, or DBS, or VNS. 

I don't have any Happy Hari close to hand to compare, though from looking at my notes I am getting more vanilla, more sweetness, more delicate florals from this than from the Happy Hari - but that could be as much down to batch variation and age as anything else. However, if people are curious they could get some of the Happy Hari Niyama Sutra from Padma Store for 4.24 Euros, and do their own comparison, and see if they have a preference. The cost is around the same as the Dancing Sufi, weight for weight. 

I like this. I like it a lot. I haven't scored it as high as the Happy Hari, and that may due to a number of factors. I'll be interested in doing a side by side comparison in the future. 

Date: Nov 2025   Score: 38

***

Temple of Incense

Reviewed in USA

Huss Neudorfer Raucherkerzen Weihnachtsduft (Christmas Scent)

 

Huss' Neudorfer range mostly have the same image and wording on the front - the scent is named on the back of the packet. This one is Weihnachtsduft -Christmas Scent. It is similar to Carl Jager Weihnachts-Duft - same appearance (though the Carl Jager is a smidgeon smaller, and has the magical gold flakes), and a similar scent on the cone (though the Carl Jager is much more attractive and interesting with candy, spicy, sweet, honeyed tones), with a similar scent on the burn (frankincense and coal fire). 

I like these cones, though they do burn quickly, and a moment's distraction, and the cone is gone. Finished. The scent is  coal fire and frankincense and fir and Christmas. It is warm, sharp, evocative, resinous, and very attractive. It is actually quite close in nature to Carl Jager Weihnachts-Duft. I think I prefer the Carl Jager (if just for the gold flakes!), though I would need to do a blind taste test to see if there is a difference. 

Available direct from Huss for 2.90 Euros + shipping. 

Date: Oct 2025   Score: 34

***

Huss Incense

Carl Jager

 

Carl Jager are a fourth generation German incense maker, founded in 1897.  

Reviews

   

Carl Jager Weihnachts-Duft 
Nov 2025 - Score: 35

  

Carl Jager Echte Wiehrauchkerzen Rot (PM)
Nov 2025 - Score: 33

   

Carl Jager Echte Weihrauchkerzen Schwarz (P)
Nov 2025 - Score: 27

Reviews: 3  
High score: 35
Low score: 27 
Average: 

***

The Best Incense Makers

Incense Around the World

Carl Jager Weihnachts-Duft

 

German cones are fun. There's no artifice about them, they are what they are  - familiar fun scents, usually with a Christmas theme. Carl Jagar is no different in that respect, and this  Weihnachts-Duft is their "Christmas Scent", and the five cones come in a waxed paper envelope decorated with a cute child-like Christmas illustration of three children dressed as the three wise men.

It is the story of the Three Wise Men that started the tradition of making incense cones in Germany. The three wise men brought gifts of frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus. In the German mining community, according to the Carl Jager website, the 11th and 12th century workers would anoint themselves with the smoke from home made frankincense cones to spiritually protect themselves from harm when working in the mine. I love these cultural traditions which continue in echoes to the present day. Like the bonfires at Halloween are an echo of the ritual bonfires that occurred during the Celtic festival of Samhain, held on the same date in the calendar.   

The cones are small and dark, and very firm, with a pleasant sweet, almost candy scent, touched with dark berry fruits. There are gold flakes in the cone - which is likely to be a reference to the gold that the three wise men brought.  The scent on the burn is delightful. A little spicy in a resinous way with warm fir, and then the musky, earthy sweetness of woods and resins comes forward. There's frankincense and possibly myrrh; and some coal fire smoke. The spicy fir top notes are now gone, and the dark woody resins and coal dust grows stronger.  There is a moment in the scent journey with these Carl Jager cones where the top notes are beautifully balanced with the base notes, but then  the base notes start to dominate, the balance is gone, and the experience becomes more ordinary until, near the end, it becomes a little scorched and muddled. 

On the whole I like these little cones. I pretty much almost love them. And I like the rich history and tradition associated with them. Sometimes a good deal of the pleasure in burning an incense is in being aware of the history, culture, and tradition associated with it. 

Available direct from Carl Jager for 1.70 Euros. Outside of Europe contact the company on mail@jaegers-raeucherkerzen.de to arrange shipping costs. 

Date: Nov 2025   Score: 35 

***

Carl Jager

Carl Jager Echte Weihrauchkerzen Schwarz

 Echte Weihrauchkerzen Schwarz translates as Original Incense (or Frankincense) Candle Black.  It's original, as it is one of the recipes of the company's founder, Carl Jager, from 1897; candle is the German term for cone, and black as that is the colour.  I've just burned the company's Red, which appears to be the same cone, but with a coating of a delightful fragrant red powder.  I prefer the Red because of the extra fragrance from the powder. This Black cone is a little too simple for my  taste - it just smells of coal burning. Nice, warming, and comforting, but doesn't rock my boat. 

Available for 1.70 Euros from Carl Jager, and at various German online stores.  There are no automatic means to buy online from Carl Jager, but if you make up a list of what you want, and send an email to mail@jaegers-raeucherkerzen.de, they will calculate shipping costs and invoice you. 

Date: Nov 2025   Score: 27

***

Carl Jager

Carl Jager Echte Weihrauchkerzen Rot

 

I love learning more and more about incense and incense cultures. The culture and history of German cones fascinates me. Some of the better known German incense companies are the longest established incense companies in the world, outside of Japan. The cones are strongly associated with Christmas and with beautifully crafted German Smokers, such as these cuties as well as the more traditional.

Sascha of Indiaroma has directed me to several small German incense makers I'd not been aware of. And Carl Jager is the company he rates highest, so I ordered a bunch of cones, and even some sticks.  This is the first I am trying. Echte Weihrauchkerzen Rot roughly translates as Genuine Incense (or Frankincense) Cone Red. The direct translation is "Incense Candle" as cones are often referred to as candles in Germany. The incense is named "original" as it was one of the original recipes devised by the founder, Carl Jager, over 125 years ago in 1897. Though correspondence with the company, both emails and letters, are signed Carl Jager, the current owner appears to be Ilona Jäger-Schimpf, the great-granddaughter of the founder. She took over in 2014, after the death of her father. So this is a fourth generation incense house.  

The packaging feels wonderfully artisan - a waxed paper pouch with a crude and charming drawing of a German smoker. The wording under the name translates as "Gives a subtly spicy fragrance". There are six small cones, coloured red. There is a sweet, gently spicy scent on the cone. The red colour is from a dusting of powder on the cone, rather similar to the melnoorva/masala powder used on Indian masala incense. 

There is a charming "Christmas scent" when the cone is first lit - a smell of Christmas trees in the frost. Gradually a smell of a coal fire develops, and there's an engaging olfactory picture of a Christmas tree and a roaring coal fire. For such a small cone it packs quite a punch, the fragrance quickly and firmly diffusing around the room. It's a clean and non-aggressive scent, though some of the coal fire elements can catch at the back of my throat. This is not a profound scent. There's no design to it. No  perfumer has been near this. But its simplicity and directness is a large part of its charm, and I am beguiled by it.  Some flaws emerge toward the end - some scorch notes as the heat gets to the wider part of the cone near the base. I find this common in cones. I find that sticks release a more consistent and smoother fragrance. The shape of the cone appears to me to work against it, as tars build up, and drop down into the wide base as the cone burns, so by the end there is too much of the base notes, few top notes, and some flaws emerge. This is common to cones in general, but seems to be particularly noticeable here. That said, I have thoroughly enjoyed this. 

Available for 1.70 Euros from Carl Jager, and at various German online stores.  There are no automatic means to buy online from Carl Jager, but if you make up a list of what you want, and email mail@jaegers-raeucherkerzen.de, they will calculate shipping costs and invoice you. 

Date: Nov 2025   Score: 33

***

   

Carl Jager

The Mother's India Fragrances Prem / Lavanya

 

This is called Prem in the UK, but Lavanya elsewhere. Ingredients are given for both as "many layers of" jasmine, ylang ylang, vanilla, and cedar. 

   

UK name - "Affection"

  

Delightful scent on the stick. Delicate, floral, powdery sweet. Smells like Love Hearts. Quite joyful and uplifting and feminine, and somewhat child-like. Yeah. Nice. Very commercial - I should imagine such a scent would have a wide appeal. I like it. 

Oz and USA name - "Graceful"

The scent on the burn continues what was started on the stick. Powdery sweet, with light floral notes. I wouldn't pin it down to jasmine or anything, more a generic sweet floral - a sort of lab made "floral" which could be used in sweets, soaps, and casual home fresheners. There's a vague and soft woody base, with a gentle bitter roughness like tree bark which gives a decent balance to the sweetness. Hmm. Some more identifiable jasmine is starting to impress itself on me. Along with some faint caramel, and an even fainter sense of  prickly lambs wool, which I tend to associate with halmaddi.  Away on the edges I'm aware of the dry, peppery notes I am apt to get from Pondicherry incense, but mostly I'm finding this gentle, sweet, delicate, and appealing. The child like feminine sweetness at the start is quite joyful and uplifting, then, when the base notes start to makes themselves felt, this becomes a more serious and rounded incense, with a calming influence. Yes, I like this.  

Date: Nov 2025   Score: 35

***

The Mother's India Fragrances

Reviewed in Germany

Reviewed in USA

Misbah's Silky Oudh

 

A heady, earthy, alcoholic, powdery sweet, bakhoor aroma on the stick. Lots of fumes. Almost intoxicating. Muslim Indian incense tends to be Arabian in nature, and if it says oudh, it will be a bakhoor style oudh - quite heady, rich, cologne soaked, rather than the drier, woody agarwood inspired oudh favoured by Asians in general. 

The scent on the burn develops that on the stick - it is heady, alcoholic, powdery sweet, with florals, particularly rose, prominent above the sweaty, earthy, musky base. There's a lot of fairly sharp top notes - fairly aldehydic; perhaps that is the intended "silky" aspect. If so, it makes it feel sort of old fashioned, and a little too bright and sparkly for me. I'm not against aldehydics, but here I find it something of a clash with the earthy woody base. But I like the idea of a silky oudh, and there's much about this that I find both charming and compelling.

Available from Misbah at  500 rupees for 100g (India only). It occasionally turns up on eBay - worth doing a search. 250 rupees for 50g from Aavyaa, who are no longer doing free international shipping. I spoke with Vishesh, and because of the expense of international shipping he is now charging. If you get together a list of what you want and WhatsApp him on +91 97100 09184, he'll let you know shipping costs. 

Date: Oct 2025   Score: 37

***

Misbah's Fragrance

The best oudh incense