Mentsi Khang Bhutanese Incense (Mih)

October 21, 2008 at 12:31 pm (Bhutan, Incense, Mentsi Khang)

You’ll need to scroll past the Red Crystals to see this rather obscure incense. It’s fairly unclear from the box exactly what the name is, as “Mih” only shows up on the ends of the box. The box itself carries around 40 sticks, all of which, at least in my box, are kind of bent banana style. With the sort of airy feel to the stick (similar if not airier than the Nado Poizokhang lines, also Bhutanese), it makes the incense seem a little unusual or exotic even.

The ingredients listed are nagi, sandalwood, cardamom, clove, saffron, musk, leaves of spruce and hemlock, butterworth, benth, and other Himalayan aromatic herbs. However while that listing might give one the impression of a complex, multi-spice sort of blend, the results are a lot more consonant than you might expect. It’s actually not particularly unwelcome sorting under the Red Crystal incenses as it has that very woody sort of base, although in this case the woodiness gives way to quite a bit of aromatic depth, implying many of the other ingredients while not highlighting any one in particular. The scent has a peppery sort of vibe with the typical campfire aroma you get from heavy high-altitude, evergreen woods and a fleeting hint of resin or amber.

Overall it’s a rather unusual incense, with an aspect of it managing to trigger subconscious impressions at times, possibly due to what seems like a ”fire” element to it with the pepper, heavy woods and strongly consonant finish. At times it seems like a simple incense, until one backs up a little and sees it for the mosaic it is, a picture created from little pictures. And it’s those little pictures that gnaw at you, well beyond the scent’s overall impact as if there’s much more to be found here.

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Nado Poizokhang / Grades A-C

March 26, 2008 at 8:58 am (Bhutan, Incense, Nado Poizokhang)

Nado Poizokhang claims to be the the oldest and largest hand-made incense stick manufacturer in Bhutan. The company’s main incense, if you will, actually exists in seven different grades, from A to G. The ingredients in all of these incenses includes sandalwood, clove, red sandalwood, major cardamom, saffron, nutmeg, and a dozen or so other herbs and spices. The difference among the grades appears to be the amount of juniper used, the amount increasing as the grade of incense gets lower.

The general Nado Poizokhang scent is like many Tibetan and Bhutanese incense sticks, it’s composed of so many different herbs and spices that it takes quite a while to get used to the scent and realize how complex the incense is. I have the same experience with almost all Tibetan blends that have a large list of ingredients, an initial feeling of disappointment and bewilderment, only to find as I get used to the scent that I was actually quite off in my initial assessment. In fact, all three of the grades in question have been getting quite a bit of “air time” lately, and the more I burn them, the more I enjoy them.

However, the quality level, at least between Nado Poizokhang Grade A and C is quite significant in that the amount of juniper used changes the color of the stick from a deep, almost cherry red color to a sort of pink-tinged beige. It begs the question of just how much difference there could be in scent among the lower grades from D to F, if the change is this significant in the higher grades. The consistency of the stick is sort of unusual as well in that they’re very strong and almost have a sort of plastic feel to them, which is a bit of a change considering how many broken pieces of various Tibetan sticks show up.

Grade A appears to be the only one to come in a sort of weird paper-ended bamboo tube, the others seem to come in boxes that differ mostly in the color or ”wrappers” for the two lowest grades. Honestly I’d rather have them all in boxes, the tube can not be opened without it being opened permanently, with a hole in one of the ends. Like many multi-ingredient incenses, there’s a hell of a lot going on here, but initially one’s likely to get some berry hints and stronger tobacco/sage like characteristics. In fact it’s tribute to the blenders that it’s only with experience that one starts to notice the individual players in the orchestra, all sort of popping up in random variations as your stick burns. Of course, with Grade A these characteristics are the strongest. Grade B is still very close, but the presence of juniper mellows out the intensity some, and in Grade C it almost seems like the juniper presence is on an even par with the other ingredients. After burning A and B, I still get strong hints of it with C, but I do wonder how much presence the lower grades could possibly have.

Overall, like a lot of these central Asian incenses that use lots of ingredients, it takes a while to suss out the central scent and this sort of longevity is definitely a plus, one generally finds that you kind of grow with it and that the familiarity starts to make it a bit addictive. The prices are close to Tibetan premium prices (around the $20 mark and descending per grade), but honestly one should definitely start with A or B first in order to a get a grip on this company’s central scent (B being $5 less than A is probably the best bet). I might eventually find Grade C a decent substitute, it’s certainly pleasant, but the juniper kind of obscures some of the stronger more energetic herbs, making it a bit slower to “get.”

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