Monsoon Incense – Patchouli & Rose

I bought this pack of incense sticks in mid-2024. At the time, the brand Monsoon Incense was still called Good Incense, but since that led to predictably poor Google search results, Eugene, the owner, decided to rename the brand.
A 15g pack of Patchouli & Rose costs €2.95 and contains around nine sticks, which comes to approximately €0.33 per stick.

Patchouli and rose sound like such a fantastic combination. Unfortunately, I can barely detect any patchouli, even with great effort. The herbal aspect of the scent reminds me of crimson bee balm (also called wild bergamot); a herbaceous-tart bergamot-like aroma that blends with the soft and very sweet bouquet of rose, creating a fragrance that makes me think of a rose & lemon balm bath for relaxation.

Rose by Monsoon Incense also reminded me of lemon balm, but I don’t think they come from the same manufacturer, as they are quite different in composition. Patchouli & Rose is hand-rolled, whereas the Rose sticks are extruded. However, it’s the same type of rose scent, and the combination with the patchouli fragrance used here seems to intensify that herbal, tart-fresh aspect significantly.

Only after the third or fourth time burning these sticks did I begin to detect a faint earthy note in the background that could be patchouli. But without context, I doubt I would have recognised it.

Patchouli & Rose isn’t bad at all, just not what I expected. Bergamot is a scent I don’t like, and finding it in a patchouli incense stick was disappointing. That said, I’m convinced that some will find exactly this aspect appealing.