Incense In The Wind

Radiating Incense In The Wind - a painting by Hai Linh Le

Thursday 14 May 2015

Aromatika




Aromatika  is the brand name of V Expo, an Indian incense company based in Jaipur, who have been making incense for over 30 years. They make and distribute both perfumed and masala incense.

I reviewed some of their Ace Scents range in the early days of this blog, and rated them quite highly, even though I felt the packaging was poor, and the appearance and presentation was more of a perfumed incense than a proper masala. I have felt for some time that I rated them too highly, especially after I went through 12 packs of their scented cones, such as the Rose, and found them, on the whole, pleasant but rather ordinary and not good quality, so when I saw a bundle of the Ace Scents range on Amazon, 10 packs for under £10, I thought that would be an opportunity to catch up, and see if I still felt they were decent sticks.  

I've been quickly through all the packs, and all the sticks are crudely machine extruded paste onto plain machine-cut bamboo splints. They vary in colour, and some have a coating of melnoorva powder, while others don't. The sticks are 8 inches with 6 inches of paste. There are 20 sticks per pack. They all tend to give off an unimpressive standard synthetic room freshener fragrance which inclines to be a bit soapy. Not unpleasant at all, and some are very attractive, though not actually deeply engaging. The quality of the scent on the burn varies, with at times a little too much of the core material being noticeable through the modest fragrance. On the whole a disappointing experience, and not really worth £10, though the bulk of the sticks are acceptable albeit modest everyday room fresheners. 


* = A review over five years old

Reviews


Aromatika Sacre Coeur Sandalwood
April 2019 - Score: 42 


Aromatika Ace Scents 
Frankincense & Myrrh
May 2015 - Score: 40*


Aromatika Vedic Marie Qui Defait Les Noeuds 
Sept 2019 - Score: 35


Aromatika Ace Scents Dragon Blood 
(P - Mar 2024)
: 34 


Aromatika Ace Scents 
Opium
May 2015 - Score: 32*


Aromatika Ace Scents 
Patchouli
May 2015 - Score: 32*


 
Aromatika Benzoin incense Cones
Feb 2021 - Score: 32



Aromatika Ace Scents 
Musk
May 2015 - Score: 28*



Aromatika Patchouli Incense Cones
Jan 2021 - Score: 27

  
Aromatika Ace Scents White Sage (P)
Mar 2024 - Score: 27

 
Aromatika Nag Champa Incense Cones
March 2021 - Score: 27



Aromatica White Sage Incense Cones (P)
Feb 2021 - Score:
 26 


 
Aromatika Spiritual Love Incense Cones
Feb 2021 - Score: 25


 
Aromatika Rose Incense Cones
Feb 2021 - Score: 24


 
Aromatika Dragons Blood Incense Cones
Feb 2021 - Score: 24


 
Aromatika Incense Cones
African Musk
 (P)
Feb 2021 - Score: 22 


Aromatika Palo Santo Incense Cones
Jan 2021 - Score: 20


 
Aromatika 7 Chakras Incense Cones
March 2021 - Score: 20


 
Aromatika Lavender incense Cones
Feb 2021 - Score: 19


  
Aromatika Ace Scents Nag Champa (P)
Mar 2024 - Score: 18 

 
Aromatika Sandalwood Incense Cones
Feb 2021 - Score: 13


 
Scents tried: 19 
Top score: 45
Low score: 13
Average:  28 
Average masala: 36 (Decent Stuff) 
Average perfumed: 23 (Everyday) 

Conclusion: I initially felt that Aromatika's masala incense was excellent, though revisiting the Ace Scents range has changed my opinion. I feel that the experience tends to be so close to perfumed as to be virtually indistinguishable. I like some of the scents, and they can make for pleasant even attractive room fresheners, but they are not special enough to be of interest to connoisseurs. 

I'm keeping an open mind on the whole of Aromatika's range, there may be some masala that is worth checking out, but in general this is not a company I am that interested in investigating further.  

***
The Best Incense Makers


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