Bhagwan – Nag Champa Gold

I received Nag Champa Gold as a sample from Eugene, the owner of Bhagwan Incense, with my first order (at end of 2023). A box contains 15g, which in this case translates to 10 sticks. At a price of €4.95, that works out to about €0.49 per stick.

Some of you might still remember these sticks as Happy Hari – Nag Champa Gold, which I’ve already reviewed here. Since the remaining stock of Padma Store (which has since sold out) was clearly a bit older and these Nag Champa Gold are particularly fresh, I decided to write a second review.

Disclosure: Due to my history and friendly relationship with Eugene, the owner of Bhagwan Incense, I would like to point out that I cannot write reviews of this brand with complete impartiality. I write a lot of the Bhagwan reviews based on samples that were given to me – these are labelled accordingly.
All reviews are unpaid and reflect my honest opinion, but you are welcome to consider them as advertising.

Nag Champa Gold definitely ranks among the best Nag Champa for me. It’s the classic, floral Nag Champa scent that anyone who has smelled it before will immediately recognise: floral-sweet, yet also slightly tart, soft and creamy, beguiling, simply good.
With the old sticks, I criticised that the scent sometimes had a scratchy spiciness, which only disappeared at a strong air dilution. In the current ones from Bhagwan, I don’t notice anything like that. The fragrance does have a subtle, spicy component, but it’s in no way obtrusive, even when I’m standing quite close to the burning stick.
The soft note, which I often describe as “waxy” in many Nag Champa, is clearly present. I believe it was slightly more prominent in the older sticks, but it’s certainly still very noticeable here as well.
The sweetness of the scent is hard to pinpoint, but it seems to go beyond the pure sweetness of the floral aspect. It gives a subtly honeyed impression, without throwing the overall fragrance off balance.
Occasionally, a fruity freshness appears, which I’d like to describe as citrusy. However, it’s neither a piercing nor a sour lemon note, nor is it tart or herbaceous like the lemongrass-like aspect in Namaste Nag Champa. This freshness is downright juicy-fruity.

For me personally, the waxy scent sometimes becomes a bit too much, but I can easily imagine that others might particularly enjoy it. Aside from that, Nag Champa Gold are rich, complex Nag Champa that will probably never become boring. Even the old sticks still received a rating of 4.2 from me, and these are clearly better. (I’ve since completely abandoned a rating system, but if anyone is interested in the reasons, you can read about it here.)
Old fans of this Happy Hari variety can rest assured knowing that the fragrance is not lost. It lives on in the range of Bhagwan and – yes – the Sticks are the same as those sold by Temple Of Incense.