#Incense  #Incense Review 

Bhagwan Incense: Resins

Taking a look at Dragon’s Blood, Frankincense & Rose, King of Loban, Royal Frankincense, Royal Myrrh, and Sacred Frankincense by Bhagwan Incense.

A close up of a stick of incense being lit.


By Nathan Upchurch

Look familiar? I accidentally published an unfinished draft of this article earlier this month. Whoops.

Moving on from a selection of fragrant wood-focused sticks, today I’m taking a look at some resin-themed sticks from the assortment of samples that Bhagwan Incense kindly sent me for review.

Dragon’s Blood #

The unlit stick features soapy, citrus / white-musk laundry detergent notes. The fragrance transforms into something much sweeter in the burn, with warm, woody, and vanillic notes sitting beneath bergamot peel, white musk, and raspberry. Unlike some other dragon’s blood sticks, I don’t get much in the way of baking spice—barring a hint of anise-seed. As the fragrance builds in the room, I do begin to detect something of a metallic note, as mentioned in the incense description. Like the actual resin, this stick is complex and rather difficult to describe. Although the fragrance is a long shot from its namesake, I expect that it will be similarly divisive. Dragon’s Blood was also reviewed by ORS.

Frankincense & Rose #

A very true to life frankincense fragrance plus a well balanced hit of rose. The combination is juicy and fruity in the way that rose petals are when heated. There is a green-apple acidity that, with everything else, reminds me of sparkling wine or cider. The fragrance is otherwise relatively straightforward, beside a very subtle floral note that I only notice from up close. Also from nearby, I keep thinking that I detect a hint of sandalwood. Frankincense & Rose was also reviewed by ORS.

King of Loban #

King of Loban[1] contains notes of baking spice, vanilla, and turbinado sugar, plus those floral-woody notes that makes Indian incense so unique. Despite the complexity, the benzoin note remains clear. King of Loban is not a one-note reference stick for the material, but if you haven’t smelled benzoin before you could absolutely learn to recognize it by burning this incense. The benzoin note isn’t quite as vanillic as the benzoin Siam in my collection, so this is perhaps not the stick for you if you’re looking for an absolute vanilla bomb.

I tend to find that Indian benzoin sticks go a little too hard on the resin. Fortunately, I find Bhagwan’s King of Loban well-balanced: sweet, rich, powdery, a little spicy, and just complex enough to elevate it beyond a one-note stick while maintaining real benzoin character. This stick was also reviewed by ORS.

Royal Frankincense #

A very true to life stick, with frankincense crystal-clear in the burn. The resin note feels complete in a way oil-based frankincense fragrances rarely do. Despite the description noting that no other aromatics were added, to me there is something of a buttery sandalwood oil note and a measure of that tart-floral complexity that you often find in Indian incense. It reminds me of Fred Soll’s Frankincense and Sandalwood, only not quite as strong, and with the added olfactory interest that comes from Indian perfumery. A very, very nice stick. Royal Frankincense was also reviewed by ORS, and rauchfahne.de.

Royal Myrrh #

While offering a perfumy C. kua impression, the fragrance of this stick is not especially true to the raw resin. It’s turpenous, with notes of licorice, black pepper, spruce, and acetone. Not an especially sweet stick, Royal Myrrh is dry-woody and spicy, giving “masculine” cologne vibes. This stick was also reviewed by ORS and rauchfahne.de.

Sacred Frankincense #

Sacred Frankincense is another competent, true to life frankincense stick. The frankincense note leans woody, peppery, and cedar-like. It reminds me of the fragrance of the Frankincense Rejuvenative Creme[2] from Apothecary’s Garden, which uses B. frereana. While resin-forward, this is not a single-note stick, with a rather sweet sandalwood fragrance underlying the resin.

Conclusion #

I really enjoyed each of these sticks. Royal Frankincense is in must-have territory for me, followed closely by Sacred Frankincense and King of Loban. Like the last batch from Bhagwan, these sticks are plenty strong, so prepare to have some serious space to fill or ample ventilation if you pick up a pack. I had a nice time trying Dragon’s Blood, but it’s not the sort of fragrance that I personally find craveable. I found Frankincense and Rose beautiful, but almost so fruity to my nose so as to be a touch gourmand to see myself burning with any regularity. This one might benefit from even more space and ventilation than I could provide. While Royal Myrrh didn’t make it into my top three, I can absolutely see myself buying a pack when I run out of samples.

  1. Although the Bhagwan website states on the product page that this stick is “hand-rolled in a state of happiness and gratitude to the divine by women in rural India,” these appear to be (as did sandalwood origins, although I didn’t mention it) machine-extruded sticks. Whether or not sticks are hand-rolled—in happiness and gratitude to the divine or otherwise—is something I can not bring myself to care about. I do, however, care whether the information provided by a vendor is accurate and I would like to see Bhagwan put more focus on this area. ↩︎

  2. Unfortunately, this very nice product is likely to become even more expensive in the U.S.A. due to a certain orange-hued fellow with a wispy comb-over. ↩︎

Nathan Upchurch Nathan likes to cook vegan food, play the trombone, make incense, design stuff, muck about with free software and tech, and more. As a millennial, he dreams of owning a modest rural home in a sane country where he can make incense sticks in tranquility. To support Nathan’s writing (or simply help a filthy pinko leave the U.S.A.), you can donate on Liberapay.

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