Temple Of Incense – Saffron

This is one of the samples that Sascha (owner of Indiaroma.de) sent me from his private collection at the end of 2023. (Purely by chance, almost all can be found in his shop as well. 😉 ) Among them are quite a number of Temple Of Incense sticks such as this one.

Saffron originally cost €12 in his shop, but they have now been priced down to €9.60, as they are no longer being sold by TOI. So, this is a clearance sale, and once they’re gone, they won’t be available anymore. A pack contains 20 sticks, which makes it €0.48 per stick at the reduced price. The burning time is listed as 45 minutes.
The sticks are relatively similar to the Saffron Sandal incense sticks from Nandita and Anand, but they are thinner and dyed in a different colour. I’m not sure into which category Saffron fit best, same as with both the Saffron Sandal. They are hard incense sticks but seem to be very oil-heavy. It could be Masala (a mixture of aromatic ingredients) or just wood powder used as a base for the perfume.

In TOI‘s shop, it seems that Temple has now replaced Saffron, and these are also described as having a saffron scent. Judging from the picture, however, they appear to be hand-rolled Masala. Temple costs £14, whereas Saffron used to cost £12.

The first time I lit this stick of Saffron, I was almost shocked at how bad I found it. Something in the smell reminded me of perfume-dipped incense sticks on a sawdust base that are sold in Bali; I was once given some like that as a gift.
I can’t quite describe what it is, but I still detect this note in the scent, although it’s not as prominent now as it was the first time, and I only smell it when I stand too close to the smoke.
After a few more tries, my impression has improved slightly, but not by much.
In the scent of Saffron, I do detect some hints of the notes I associate with saffron, the most noticeable being a hot spiciness and a light tartness. However, for the most part, it smells to me like a sweet and very heavy, floral perfume, which has a quite old-fashioned feel to me.

Sascha, on the other hand, seems to perceive the scent utterly different. Unlike me, he detects the saffron aspect quite clearly and doesn’t find the scent floral at all.
Now, I’m of course curious whether the perception of these sticks generally falls into two camps.
Do you know the Saffron from Temple of Incense? How do they smell to you?