NGR – Nag Champa vs. Satya (BNG) Nag Champa

I bought this box of Nag Champa second hand, which is obviously heavily “inspired” by the design of the original Nag Champa by Satya. As far as I can tell, you can usually only find them in large packs of 12 boxes of 15g each for €15-17, for example on eBay. (That’s about €1.60 per box and is about the same as the price for Satya at some shops.) On Amazon, the brand is named as “Pamai Pai”, but the importer’s company name, which is written on the back of the box, is Gunarajan trading agency. In addition to these NGRs, they also sell the original Satya – Nag Champa. I couldn’t figure out what “Pamai Pai” was all about. Apart from these incense sticks, only spices are sold under the NGR brand.

NGR – Nag Champa immediately reminded me of Golden Nagchampa because they have a similar pungent note, which smells like diesel to me in high concentration, but when diluted it appears fruity. However, with NGR it is significantly weaker. Nevertheless, these are incense sticks that I can only really enjoy outside. There, sufficiently diluted, they have a strong and full scent that is quite typical of Nag Champa. They are floral-fruity, slightly tart and a little creamy. I actually find it quite yummy, but as soon as the smoke hits me too directly, the pungent note comes through again, and I find it unpleasant. So I really have to put them a few meters away from me.

Of course, I also compared NGR – Nag Champa with the original Satya (BNG) Nag Champa:
Satya have a much creamier smell, which I find so dominant that it doesn’t really smell like a Nag Champa anymore. When diluted well, the smell is softer than NGRs, and they seem warmer, but unfortunately, they have a burnt sugar note (that is typical of Satya in my opinion). I also detect a faint cosmetic scent in Satya Nag Champa.

It seems to me that both would benefit from having a little more of the respective other because I find the smell most pleasant when the smoke of both incense sticks blends together.
If I had to choose between the two, I would choose NGR. For me, they are on the border of the 3-rating range and are closer to what I understand as a classic Nag Champa fragrance profile; if they wouldn’t have that pungent note, they would be really good. With the Golden Nagchampa mentioned above, I have found that not everyone perceives this note in the same way as I do, so it can be assumed that NGR also does not have a diesel note for everyone. They are definitely a possible alternative to Satya. So if you stumble across a single pack of NGR – Nag Champa, take the opportunity to try it out.

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