We don’t have many cone incenses. The truth is, there aren’t many that impress us. Granted, they serve a purpose, giving a fairly significant amount of fragrance off in a shorter time. They tend to be cleaner than sticks as their ashes are easier to contain. What is unfortunate is that many of the better sticks cannot be formed into cones for various reasons. One reason is that the makeup of the incense requires a bamboo backbone to keep it together. It would be too soft or crumbly to hold together as a cone. Some just wouldn’t burn right. More oxygen is needed to keep the stick lit, so if it’s in cone form, the cone would burn for a while then go out part of the way down. Nag Champa has both problems. It’s crumbly and it has a fairly high O2 requirement, so that is why Nag Champa cones seldom resemble Nag Champa. They have to be formulated differently for both structural and combustive reasons. This hasn’t stopped manufacturers from making cones called “Nag Champa”, but few come at all close to the stick form. Out of the ones we have tried, Vijayshree Golden Nag Champa Cones comes the closest. Once one’s expectations are such to appreciate a fragrance for what it is, rather than comparing it to another, these might just be our over all favorite cones. How close does it come to Nag Champa? We would say close enough that they have earned the right to put the title on the pack.