Koya’s – Chandan

I received a stick of Koya’s Chandan along with four others of their varieties from Steve Pereira. However, he hasn’t reviewed this one yet.

Koya’s lists sandalwood, natural resins and gums, as well as essential oils as the main ingredients.
Further, Koya’s classify their sticks as dipped incense, even though they aren’t solely oil-based. In such cases, the term Masala-hybrid is occasionally used.
A box of 10 sticks costs around €1.70 (₹150) in Koya’s shop.
Unfortunately, I didn’t take any scans or photos of the sticks at the time. They are thick, hand-rolled sticks, similar in style to some varieties from the Temple of Incense or Bhagwan range. These are usually referred to as soft masala, but are also clearly very oil-heavy and, like these Koya’s, often show a sooty flame when lit.
The more incense sticks I get to know, the more the borders between the different types seem to blur, and I begin to question whether categorizing them this way is even meaningful for most incense sticks.

These Chandan remind me of Balaji – Chandan, which I used to be very enthusiastic about. However, they don’t quite hold up in a direct comparison. Koya’s are much less high-pitched sweet and instead much creamier and softer. Their fragrance seems a bit more complex than Balaji’s.
In Balaji’s defence, though, they are now two years old and have noticeably weakened in scent.
When I burned the first half of my sample stick, I found an interesting earthy tone and was slightly reminded of good pipe tobacco; not least because of a fruity note, similar to how cedarwood smells fruity. I couldn’t detect either today. Whether that’s due to the weather, my nose, or the time that has passed remains an open question.

Unfortunately, Koya’s are hardly available in Germany and Europe in general. I believe Steve received them directly from Koya’s as samples. Some of their varieties are among the highest-rated incense sticks on his blog.
If I happened to stumble upon a box at a reasonable price somewhere, I wouldn’t leave it behind.