Balaji – Chandanam
Balaji – Chandanam ended up on my curiosity-list along with Chandan, but I never quite got around to buying them. Eventually, I received five of these sticks from my friend Silver in India (early 2024). She rather likes Chandanam.
At Ephra World Shop, Chandanam costs €2.45 for a pack of 15 sticks, each 9″ (approx. 23cm) in length. That works out to about €0.16 per stick.
Chandanam has an intensely sweet and opulent scent. There is a distinct sandalwood note, but the richness of the fragrance comes from other ingredients. The sweetness is creamy, as heavy as a thick buttercream, perhaps with a hint of vanilla, though nothing I can attribute to a specific ingredient.
I’ve come across similarly dense sandalwood fragrances before, Ram Raj for example, and I find them quickly overwhelming.
For this review, I placed the burning stick in the hallway, letting the smoke drift through a connecting room into my living room, where a window was open. In this dosage, the intensity and density of the fragrance were fine for me. However, in the hallway, the smoke had an unpleasantly dry-oily scent and a soapy note.
As with Ram Raj, I detect spicy undertones in Chandanam, though, like the sweetness, they remain undefined.
The after-smell is exceptionally long-lasting and just as intensely sweet and opulent as buttercream.
Those who enjoy rich, sweet Chandan scents will love Chandanam. I enjoy them on my balcony, but indoors, they’re too much for me.
I quite liked this. I found it a sweet, creamy sandalwood note with saffron and Oudh notes in it. I found it very intense than Shalimar Sandal King which has the same fragrance profile like this Chandanam.
I just burnt this and yup I found the hint of vanilla, but like a butterscotch vanilla note.
It is soapy but not in the cycle parampara way. I actually find it sharp and pungent more than sweet. I recently got another box of chandanam so I’ll light it now and try to look at it from your perspective too.
Interesting! Max actually had a very similar impression of it. LMK what you find!
On the unlit stick, I got a strong tartness, pungent warmth, sweetish florals and something animalistic, on a base of sandalwood. I guess this base could have some sweet creamy characteristics but it’s completely taken over by the other stronger notes.
In the burn, I’m mostly detecting the same notes but everything is overpowered by a strong smokey scent.
It also feels very different from the first Balaji chandanam that I tried and loved