Bhagwan – Red Sandalwood

This is another pack that I received from Eugene, the owner of Bhagwan Incense, as a sample when I ordered from his shop at the end of 2023. A 15g pack costs 4.95€ and contained 19 sticks, which works out to about 0.26€ per stick. The burn time is stated as 40-45 minutes.

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.

Red sandalwood is not a common fragrance in incense sticks. Contrary to what the name suggests, red sandalwood is not real sandalwood, i.e., not from the Santalum genus, but Pterocarpus santalinus. Its scent is also sweet, but less intense and complex than that of true sandalwood. Nevertheless, it is often used as loose incense and has cultural significance in India as Rakta Chandan.
The description of the sticks mentions “Mysore red sandalwood”, which doesn’t make much sense to me. The famous Mysore sandalwood is Santalum album, grown in and around Mysore in the Indian state of Karnataka. According to Wikipedia, the range of red sandalwood extends over the Eastern Ghats mountains on the east coast of India. So, I’m not sure if there’s even such a thing as Mysore red sandalwood.
Real Indian red sandalwood has become increasingly difficult to obtain in recent years due to an import ban into the EU. When you find ‘red sandalwood’ on the EU market, it is usually not P. santalinus, but another red, yet hardly aromatic wood from the Pterocarpus genus that comes from Africa. I’ve even seen wood chips that looked dyed.

Red Sandalwood is another variety from the Bhagwan range that has a pronounced HMS character, reminding me of incense sticks like BERK‘s Astral Sandal from the Blue Line, or various sandalwood scents from the English company Pure Incense.
Without knowing the name, I’d probably categorize Red Sandalwood as yet another sandalwood scent, as it has a good portion of the unique, milky softness of sandalwood.
However, I do actually find notes in it that could come from red sandalwood as well. It is a different kind of sweetness than that of white sandalwood; heavier, creamy-sweet, with an almost fruity undertone and slightly spicy hints. Another candidate would be amyris, also known as ‘West Australian sandalwood’, which is again not a true sandalwood; the botanical name is Amyris balsamifera.
Especially when the scent has had time to build up, I find a hint of marzipan in it, similar to Saffron Oudh, in which this note is extremely pronounced and dominant.
All of this blends with the almost omnipresent vanilla note in HMS sticks to create a very rich, voluminous piece of nose candy.

Red Sandalwood is seductive and enveloping; lovers of sweet scents might get addicted!