Aromandise – encens ecologique – Patchouli from Jaipur
You can read the main article about the encense ecologique line here, there you will also find information about prices and possible sources of supply (in Germany).
The incense sticks in this line are significantly longer than average at 28cm/11″. They are hand-rolled, charcoal heavy, dry masala sticks, in this case with a brown powder coating, just like the cones of the variety.
Aromandise‘s extremely friendly and helpful customer service provided me with a list of ingredients for all varieties of this line. Again, many thanks for that!
Ingredients: Patchouli powder, wood powder, benzoin resin, patchouli essential oil, natural mineral.
Patchouli from Jaipur are excellent patchouli incense sticks. They have an absolutely authentic, herbaceous-green base smell that I’ve only found in the Patchouli cones made by The World Makes Scents, but with a bit more freshness, which probably comes from essential oil. These sticks also have a general masala character.
After about a minute, the typical, earthy patchouli smell appears, but the green tone remains very present. They also have a subtle sweetness that perfectly balances the scent.
Every now and then, a spicy note emerges, revealing that there are other aromatic ingredients in this masala, although it seems as if everything in it was designed to emphasize the patchouli and underline its natural character.
The aftersmell is unobtrusive, subtly earthy and not very long-lasting.
I’m pretty excited. This is exactly the right thing if you want a patchouli scent that is very close to the raw material, but without the disadvantage of the burnt scent you get when putting the herb on charcoal.
The only negative point I see is the rather thin application of masala, which at least doesn’t have a noticeably negative effect on the scent. It just makes them a little weaker, which might be an advantage again for some people.
It’s a shame that they can’t be found online. For me, as a country bumpkin, that means I would have to drive at least 120km to buy them in a store – or know someone who could bring them for me.
As with all varieties, the Patchouli from Jaipur cones are quite low in smoke.
At first, they smell exactly like the incense sticks, but a little more intense. However, when they burned about halfway down, the scent becomes increasingly dull and takes on an ashy smell, which intensifies further towards the end. The aftersmell is also ashy.
For me, the cones perform significantly worse than the incense stick version of the fragrance.