Agarwood without any Agarwood by Pure-Vanilla.. sorry Pure-Incense

C

Casablanca

New Member
#1
#1
I ordered some Agarwood (the Connoisseur version) recently from Pure-Incense and I have to admit that I was really, really disappointed.

There were NO oud notes at all! Not even the slight whiff of Agarwood anywhere to be found.

All you could smell was cheap soap and tons of vanilla.

It left me well disappointed.

I also tried their Connoisseur Rose the other day from Pure-Incense and I had to extinguish it after about 15 minutes, as there was a nasty black burn note coming from the stick.

In my honest opinion pure-incense seem to be very low quality incense sticks (worth approx £1.50 per pack) repackaged and sold for approx £6 per pack for their premium versions. I dont even want to think what their standard cheaper versions would be like.

Anyone who likes them, then good for you as they are reletavley cheap, personally they are not for me and I wont be ordering from them again.
 
K

KAKAO

New Member
#2
#2
If you read the ingredients on the back of the pack you will see there is no agarwood listed, nada!
The low price should have given it away that there is no agarwood in it.
The same thing is true with Oud Masala from Happy Hari.
The former is a sandalwood/vanilla stick with perfume, the latter is a Nag Champa with a woody oil.

I despise incense companies that uses the agarwood name in their incense when there is none.
A slap in the face of consumers...
 
F

floraopia

Guest
#3
#3
Given the astronomically high price of agarwood, did you really expect genuine agarwood in a whole pack of incense sticks that cost $6!?? All, the same, they shouldn't be labelled 'Agarwood' when they don't contain even a molecule of the real thing.
 
C

Casablanca

New Member
#4
#4
lol..

For sure I wasnt expecting it to smell like Translucent Path by Shoyeido :cool:

However I did expect maybe to catch a whiff of the smallest Agarwood note.. even if it was far faaaar away in the distance. Even something resembling an Agarwood note would have done me happy.. but there was absolutely nothing at all.

Now the reason for my major disappointment and let down was the following impressive review on this particular incense over at Olfactory Rescue Service,

The Connoisseur version is a revelation, to date the finest Indian agarwood available in the Western market. With the reduced base and much stronger oud oil presence, this becomes a much woodier and complex incense. The company’s claim of “camphor-like” is much pronounced here although it is only one impressive note in a bounty of woody subaromas all of which reflect rather well the intricacy of good agarwood, however unlike Japanese agarwoods all this seems to be done on an oil level. While the honey and vanilla scents from the absolute only work on a sublime level, added are hints of root beer/sasparilla, tea, maple and a very slight spice. Overall a truly world class incense...
Click to expand...
How cheap soap and vanilla can smell like "the finest Indian agarwood available in the Western market" is beyond me!?

ORS has lost a lot of credibility in my eyes and has made me even think that positive reviews in exchange for freebies maybe at play, rather than giving readers the unbiased truth, which is very sad.
 
O

Oudiferous

New Member
#5
#5
I actually like Pure-Incense. I only burn their Connoisseur line. I find the Rose to be quite nice, maybe you got a bad batch. I've noticed (and some of my friends have too) that the quality of their incense varies from batch to batch sometimes. Their Agarwood incense is terrible though, and I would never burn it or recommend it to anyone. Someone gave me a stick once, and I didn't even burn it, because it just smelled awful, like your characteristic "Oud" adulterated with synthetics.

I would maybe calm down and give Pure-Incense another chance ;) They have some nice sticks, you just have to find the right fragrance. Indian Incense aren't for everyone, and they are very different from Japanese incense. They use charcoal, and are smoky, and rolled with masala formulas. Just a totally different breed of incense. I'm Indian, and that's why I like them. And compared to the Indian incense I grew up smelling and have tried, Pure-Incense is the best I have come across to date. However, the vanilla is too strong in some of their sticks. Like I said, you have to find the right blend from them, not all of their blends are good or worth burning. Vrindavan Champa is quite nice.
 
C

Casablanca

New Member
#6
#6
I think it was the review over at ORS more than anything that got me annoyed the most.

I do have a stick of Vrindavan Champa, will try it and let you know my feedback.
 
M

masstika

Member
#7
#7
Pure Incense is not the only one making what they claim as Agarwood Incense sticks that might not have any in it but also others. I have recently received another purchase from an Ebay seller claiming to be a small family business selling hand made Thai Incense sticks with no Fragrance added, just good old natural Agarwood so I naturally jumped on the bandwagon so to speak. What I received looked exactly as what's in the picture but it smelled like burned wood. Not even the slightest, faintest hint of anything and as it said no fragrances added but also forgot to say that no agarwood added ;-). Terrible buy. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160838539600
 
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