April 2012 Top Ten

April 27, 2012 at 2:22 pm (Baieido, Dhuni, Kyukyodo, Mermade Magickal Arts, Minorien, Ross, Tennendo, Yamada Matsu)

1. Dhuni Frangapani: Maybe one of the best flora’s around. It smells a lot more like the real flower then, say, as essential oil. It is also not cloying or overly sweet. A remarkable incense and well worth the price (actually it is dirt cheap compared to most Japanese scents, I am clueless as to how they manage to do this).

2. Dhuni Citronella: I really like the somewhat sharp top note in this one; it is unlike anything else I am familiar with in incense. The floral notes that follow behind are also very nice and like the Frangapani not cloying. A very nicely balanced scent.

3.Tennendo Enkuu: One of the last words in a dry scented incense. Very elegant and austere as well as a great mediation tool. Lots of Vietnamese Aloeswood make this unique and a real winner.

4. Kyukodo Murasakino: This comes in a truly beautiful wooden presentation case, inside of which is a scroll shaped tube covered in dark silk. The sticks are a deep shade of green and have a wonderful aloeswood base upon which a stunning, somewhat indescribable floralish/spice/perfume set of notes ride. I cannot think of any other maker that does this as well as Kyukodo. This is a real show stopper and is also a very classical “Old Japan” scent offering. They seem to have pulled out all the stops on this one, the word “flawless” comes to mind.

5. Kyukodo Seigetsu: A beautiful Japanese floral based on aloeswood. More overtly floral then Murasakino but less sweet then Azusa. Somewhat like Jasmine but with notes of Honeysuckle and some other white flowers. Like some of the offerings from Kyukodo there is a very slight under tone of charcoal (at least to my nose) but in this case the overall floral is so beautiful that it just does not matter.

6. Mermade Hougary Light Green Superior Frankincense: If you like Frankincense you should get this. It has been hard to get really top quality green Hougary and I am glad that Katlyn has found a source. This has a really clear citrus note riding across the resin backround that is pretty unbeatable. A winner.

7.Baieido Byakudan Kobunboku: One of the all time incense deals and still going strong. Given the recent price increases in sandalwood I was a little worried but having used this for the last ten days or so and compared it to an older box it still rocks. I tend to judge most other sandalwoods by this one. It has a very well done and classic set of spice notes (cinnamon, clove, camphor and lord only knows what else) that add to the blend.

8. Minorien Granulated Aloeswood Blend: A great loose aloeswood blend for the electric heater or coals. Very spicy with a big dose of Japanese/Chinese herbs mixed in at a very reasonable price. Somewhat dry in nature without all the overt green notes that can tend to be in these blends.

9. Yamada Matsu Firebird Select (Houjoukoh Gokuhin): There is a wonderful dry, aloeswood set of notes here on top of which clove, borneo camphor and a host of other notes are riding. The wood really makes this loose mix, which reflects the price. I have found my hand reaching for this a lot since I got it from Kohshi in San Francisco.

10. Baieido Kai un Koh: Because sometimes you just need an incense that can run with the big dogs :) Very deep, thick, strong, multi layered, strong and with an amazing balancing act between dry and spicy, not to mention strong. Not for all occasions but just the thing for some moments. There are a lot of reasons that this has been in so many Top Ten’s at ORS, all of them viable.

 


1 Comment

Happy Hari / King of Frankincense, King of Myrrh, Queen of Roses, King of Saffron, King of Vrindavan

March 22, 2012 at 8:02 am (Floral, Frankincense, Happy Hari, Incense, India, Mike, Myrrh, Rose, Saffron)

This line, which makes me feel awfully sorry for the one queen, includes three incenses previously reviewed here before under different names. Royal Amber is now King of Amber, the Corpulent Amber has been renamed Emperor of Amber, and King Sandal gets an “of.” The question here is if we’re looking at a line that claims to be the “kings” of incense, do we increase the standards to which they should be compared?

Like the other emerging Happy Hari lines, we’ve got a wide diversity of styles here. I think this is generally a very good thing because it should mean almost anyone will find something they like. I also find it highly unlikely the whole range will go over with everyone, in particular I think there’s at least one surprising divergence from the usual high quality standards.

So let’s get the bad news out of the way first. King of Frankincense just doesn’t hold up. The first stick of this was almost painfully astringent to my nose and eyes, with the rough, bitter smoke of it building up into a choking cloud. Now generally speaking I don’t think you’re usually going to get a great Indian frankincense, mostly because the style of the stick is almost tailor made to add to whatever resin is being used. But even compared to a standard like Triloka’s Frankincense, this is very poor (the closest equivalent would probably be the Vinason’s masala) with way too many of the additives veiling an unremarkable Frankincense resin.

Fortunately the rest of the line has no such issues. King of Frankincense’s twin King of Myrrh presents a stick format you wonder why the Frankincense wasn’t in, a thick champa style stick that allows a reasonable aroma of Myrrh to waft from it. This is actually fairly similar to the King of Amber in that the overall stick is warm and mellow, but instead of having a strong oil presence, the natural ingredients here allow you to get the sweet and spicy gumminess of a champa. The myrrh middle is more gently evergreen, like a good benzoin mix. Cooling overall, this is a nice and somewhat original entry into the series.

The Queen of Roses presents a very good alternative to Pure Incense’s Connoisseur Rose, with a similarly colored stick and an aroma that mostly changes due to the quality of the oil. It’s not a perfect “rose” stick so to speak, in that most incenses at this price level couldn’t possibly be pure anyway but with that aspect causing most roses to be quite poor, this is quite the successful floral. There’s a touch of lemon in the middle of the genuine floral perfume and the results are quite pretty. What surprised me over time, was that this was an incense that would get my attention when my mind was something else, which is about one of the highest compliments I could pay an incense.

The King of Saffron will be of no surprise to anyone having some experience with Indian incense, as this yellow dusted, thin masala is common in other lines as Saffron or Saffron Sandalwood. I would mention that there’s a slight freshness and clarity to this version that might make it the one to start with. In many ways it’s a “classic” Indian scent and one I might put in a starter set.

King of Vrindavan might be the best incense I’ve ever sampled with the V word in it and it’s even better than those with it in the Pure Incense line. This is a thick, heavily perfumed champa with that floral mix that really can only be experienced rather than described. This type of scent really should have earned this Queen status, as this is lovely and feminine, like a mixture of flowers and that sweet scent you get from valentine’s day heart candies. While this doesn’t quite have the subtlety of Dhuni’s Frangipani, it’s roughly in the same category and lovers of this kind of scent will definitely want both.

Overall this is a really superb line with only one bad spot. Whether one thinks most of these are really the kings of their given scents will be up to the user, but at least for the most part there’ s a lot of contenders here.

10 Comments

Happy Hari / Sutra / Pranayama, Pratyahara, Samadhi, Yama

March 15, 2012 at 9:09 am (Amber, Fruit, Happy Hari, Incense, India, Mike)

http://olfactoryrescueservice.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/happy-hari-sutra-asana-dharana-dhyana-niyama/

The link to part 1 is above. This write-up covers the final half of the Happy Hari Sutra line. I just wanted to add that my opinion continues to improve on the Dharana stick so I added that to our hall of fame. It’s one of the few in this line that isn’t a champa style, but it has an originality to it that continues to impress.

Pranayama is roughly similar to last installment’s wonderful Dhyana incense, a thick champa reaching towards fluxo-size dimentions. Where Dhyana was tangy, Pranayama goes for a more floral aroma with a touch of vanilla in the middle. I tend to find floral/citrus mixes to be off more often than not, but this has a lightness to it that keeps the balance. It’s mostly a dry stick and tends a bit to the generic champa style in the middle and has a peppery note drier champas often have. Of course generic in the halmaddi-poor days is quite a bit different than it is now because even an incense like this that isn’t quite as distinct as others in the line is still very pleasant. The description gives amber as an ingredient and this will probably have some overlap with other amber champas you might have tried.

Pratyahara reminds me of the fruitier champas that used to come out of Shrinivas like the Ajaro or Aastha. This, of course, is a much higher quality version of the same kind of scent with an attractive, powdery white stick. I’m personally not a huge fan of champas this fruity (a personal quirk perhaps), but if you are you’ll be sure to like this berry/melon-esque champa style. Because I’ve really tried few better in this category. My guess is this is one that will be for those who prefer modern scents to the traditional.

Where the previous two incenses were both evocative of older Shrinivas brands, Samadhi strikes me as more original. Like a lot of original incenses, it’s difficult to pick out the elements of a bouquet. This has a very unusual and deep oil on top, slightly spicy (similar to champas in the past that had the name Maharaj or Maharaka), peppery, and very sultry. Perhaps it’s only fault is the combination of elements doesn’t come together quite as perfectly (and this may just be memories of Maharaj getting in the way).

Yama is quite strange and definitely the driest in the group (the previous version of this was a charcoal, but this is definitely a champa). The main issue and I’m not sure if this is the stick or incense as I didn’t notice in the other incenses, but this has a bit of a bitter wood scent in the middle that gives it a slightly campfirish aroma, albeing with the line’s usual champa base. It also has a bit of a brown sugar to it (similar to the Pranayama). Most of the incenses in Happy Hari’s lines are very well balanced, so perhaps this one’s a bit of an outlier as it’s still pleasant despite its imperfections.

I’ve got a few more Haris to get out, hopefully next week (these would be in a new series that include some of the incenses I’ve already reviewed.

11 Comments

February Top 10

February 27, 2012 at 3:22 pm (Dhuni, Happy Hari, Incense, India, Japan, Mermade Magickal Arts, Mike, Shoyeido, Shroff Channabasappa, United States)

It has been a long time since I’ve done an incense top 10 here and it has been a while since I visited some of my stock, so I’ve limited the entries to seven as you can more or less count the recent Dhuni group as four slots. This is basically a lot of what I’ve been using of late….

  1. Various Incenses / Mermade Magickal Arts – Let’s just call this first entry a salute to one of the US’s top incense talents Katlyn Breene. Mermade should be well known around these parts, but this is a reminder that there is an almost incredibly high consistency level in the work from this company from the art to the incense to the presentation. It doesn’t matter if it’s evergreen treasures like Earth Church or ancient blends like Kyphi, every item is delievered with skill, integrity and a dose of light. To be honest I’m not sure this site would even be here had I not been blown away by blends like Dream Snake and Dragon Fire over 15 years ago so it’s always a great joy for me to spread the word.
  2. Happy Hari / Oud Masala – One of the most incredible Indian incenses ever created, ever since I got my last batch from the samples I think I’ve burned one of these a day. There are weaknesses to most Indian aloeswoods but this is an almost perfect balance of oudy wood qualities and champa sweetness. It’s an absolute delight.
  3. Dhuni / Frangipani, Lakshmi, Sandalwood, Temple - As I’ve said before Dhuni’s biggest weakness is their lack of 100g packages. Because honestly these 12-15 stick packages I can put down in a weekend. Anyway I reviewed these recently so check there for more but this is a terrific group. I might give Frangipani the nudge of the four just because it’s so florally gorgeous.
  4. Ross Urrere / Ocean of Night Sure this is highly biased, to put one of my cohort’s incenses on this list (and I should say it here too, there wouldn’t be an ORS without Ross), but if you go check out the sales page, you’ll see I’m not alone in admiring this incredible mix of high quality woods and herbs.  In 2030 we’ll be looking back at how great Ross’s “early work” was. :)
  5. Kyukyodo / Unkin  Of all the Kyukyodo items I put up for sale I think this could be the biggest surprise none of these moved as this is a terrific incense and one unavailable outside the five roll box. I almost think of this as something like the Kai Un Koh of the Kyukyodo line up in that I think for the price it’s a bit better of an aloeswood than you’d normally get. For a while I was lighting up two sticks at once which really increases the woodiness. It’s smooth, undeniably Kyukyodo in that there are some oils at work. And yes I have two rolls left, but not for long!
  6. Shroff Channabasappa / Sugandha Mantri – I’ve had a difficult time thinking or even talking about the batch Sugandha Mantri came with as they’re all very good incenses, yet to some extent most of them seem to be champa based with a mysterious and exotic floral/musk blend on top. This tends to mean it’s a group of incenses you haven’t really tried before and aren’t comparable to much that’s out there in the field. There’s really only a hair of difference between this and the others.
  7. Shoyeido / Premium / Ga-Ho – There’s a pungent green exotic floral note to this that has always made it a favorite in my book, it’s like the beautiful flower you’ve never smelled in person before. Most of the Shoyeido premiums are amazing but I have a soft spot for this one, it perhaps has the type of aloeswood hit I like best.

9 Comments

Dhuni / Frangipani, Lakshmi, Sandalwood, Temple

February 8, 2012 at 9:31 am (Champa, Dhuni, Frangipani, Incense, India, Mike, Sandalwood)

It’s going to be tough for me to complain or criticize anything about this latest batch of new Dhuni incenses, so for the critical record I’ll just come out and say that, um, Dhuni doesn’t expand fast enough for me? I’m only kidding of course, but this latest batch of goodies is as close to an incense TKO as I’ve ever seen. Users of Dhuni incense already realize that they’re becoming very close to the premiere connoisseur Indian incense imprint and if these new incenses are any indication they’re getting better with every new scent.

If you want the short review, it’s that I’ve added the first three to our hall of fame and the fourth isn’t entirely out of the running either. It actually struck me burning some of these that the ingredients are so good that at times it’s almost as if you’re experiencing the Indian version of Baieido incense because it’s clear a lot of the aromatic value in these incenses come from very high quality ground wood powder and herbs, the subnotes on all of these pop and catch your attention constantly.

Frangipani is a fairly common Indian incense but I guarantee you’ve never tried one nearly this good. This is an incredibly beautiful and floral aroma, soft, sweet and decadently rich, in fact only Pure Incense’s Pink Sayli even remotely comes close to this incense’s almost archetypal femininity. Other frangipani incenses often seem generically floral, but Dhuni have managed to really extract the essence of the aroma and surround it with the appropropriate base and high level of ingredients. When I first got into Indian incense, it was the sweet and rich luxurious champas that drew me in and this is a great example of one. It’s simple, direct and undeniably pleasant.

Lakshmi is another superb champa style, full of halmaddi and honey, backing an almost even mix of woods and florals, not to mention a thin thread of spice that runs through the middle as well as a touch of vanilla. In fact this contrasts quite nicely against the Frangipani as where that stick succeeds in simplicity, the Lakshmi succeeds in complexity. The main difference is the quality makes it all breathtaking and reminiscent of the golden era with a real nostalgic flair. The last stick I burned before I did this review was mesmerizing, this almost seemed to have Baieido quality level ingredients and the way the burn spun off subnotes was extremely impressive. In fact this is really one of the finest champa styled incenses I can think of.

Dhuni’s Sandalwood sticks to the champa style and is of the same ilk as Happy Hari’s recent King of Sandal, the two Sandalwoods in the now defunct Rare Incense line, and almost any incense you’ve come across called sandalwood champa. However now take that idea and think of it Dhuni style. There are no slight imbalances here at all, the sandalwood sticks to a nice and light woodiness without the intensity of the oils you usually find in other sticks. Rather than a really strong oil-based sandalwood aroma, the Dhuni stick goes for a bit more of a high-altitude evergreen feel, likely due to the huge balsamic hit the halmaddi gives it. Like all Dhunis it’s luxurious and rich, and it’s hard to imagine a sandalwood champa lover who wouldn’t take immediately to this.

Reviewing Temple after three hall of fame level incenses might make it seem this is the stinker in the bunch, but that’s anything but true, if anything it’s just one I’d like to evaluate a little longer. The difference to my nose is that Temple’s aroma is carried more by the oils than the other three incenses and like any incense of this quality level you wonder if the oils might overwhelm some of the powders and herbs. Temple has some citrus touches in the mix, I’m detecting something like lemon or bergamot on the top, but mostly it seems to be largely a mixture of woody oils, maybe a touch of sandalwood at least. Make no mistake this is a beautiful incense, but really what else would you expect from Dhuni at this point?

What else can I say but more, please? Dhuni have really outdone themselves with their latest and can hardly wait for the next expansion.

4 Comments

Happy Hari / Sutra / Asana, Dharana, Dhyana, Niyama

January 30, 2012 at 10:37 am (Champa, Charcoal, Happy Hari, Incense, India, Mike)

Happy Hari’s line has expanded from Meena Supreme and Gold Nag Champa to what is essentially two full new incense lines, both of which are replacements for previous lines that have been shifting around a bit. There are two series, one that features eight incenses all matching up with different types of yoga, and another that we’ll talk about later that is something of a “King of Incense” line, a line where some of our most recently reviewed incenses have ended up (with some name changes). So in many ways Happy Hari’s catalog changes kind of reflect the whole incense industry as a whole at this point, during a time where quality ingredients are becoming quite scarce and adjustments are being made – here you’re seeing slight changes to packaging and labelling.

However, it seems like I was sent almost two versions of the Sutra line, versions that were almost completely different. The first batch, which contained a few samples, was noticeably inferior to the second batch I received later. Assuming they were the same, I reviewed these four incenses from the samples only to find they were different in the next batch. For instance, the Yama Sutra incense was a charcoal in the first batch, but not in the second. But I’ve edited this so it now reflects what you should find in the packages you buy.

I would describe the Sutra line as something of a mix of styles, it would be very difficult to describe the range as a whole, as there are some very different incenses at work here. The line seems to be roughly split into one charcoal incenses, one masala hybrid and six champa and/or fluxo incenses. I thought about discussing the incenses in terms of how they match up with particular styles of yoga, as to be fair this seems to be the goal of the range, but in the end I can imagine few end users will be matching them up in such a way.

Asana Sutra is the charcoal incense. An early version of this incense seemed to be more of a charcoal hybrid similar to Madhavadas family incenses, but the actual released version seems to be a straight charcoal, although for the format it seems to be relatively clean. The first sample of this incense reminded me of some ayurvedic mixes and had enough benzoin in the mix to be classified as something of a loban. The released version is quite similar, especially in that it’s a mild aroma, but it seems to be much spicier and the loban similarities have mostly disappeared. The issue with such a mild charcoal incense is that it would probably take more samples than I have to describe it with any acuity, but for such a format this seems to reduce most of the issues (such as bitterness and smokiness) with charcoal.

Dharana Sutra has changed radically since my original review. This is the first incense in the line that makes me think Happy Hari went to some ends to really improve this group as Dharana is just as worthy of praise for different reasons. This isn’t a champa incense per se, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the base is a masala/charcoal hybrid of some sort, analagous to Madhavadas family incenses. But my what an aroma, it’s almost oud-like with its balance of quality wood oils and gentle florals. My guess is some age might take a bit of punch out of the stick since it’s so heavy in oils, but it should take a long time given the strength.

At first, I thought the original sample of the Dharana scent ended up as Dhyana, they’re both thick and sweet durbar incenses. The previous version of Dhyana Sutra looked to be something of a Honey Dust or Satya Natural type variant. The new and improved version is something of a musk champa, one that reminds me of Blue Pearl’s excellent version from a decade or two ago. This incense has quite a bit of similarity to Shroff’s Shanti incenses, although I think I like the sweeter and sugary direction here, it helps to balance out the heavy tanginess that Shanti exhibits. I do get a touch of citrus that the description gives, but fortunately it’s not overbearing. Overall, this is a truly excellent scent, the first in this group I’ll add to our Hall of Fame list.

Niyama Sutra has also become a much better incense than what was in the first batch, and if the Dhyana was the musk champa in this group, than surely the Niyama is the patchouli champa. The patchouli champa style was quite prevalent in the halmaddi days and was a unique combination that transmuted the qualities of patchouli into something with a pleasantly burnt type of aroma. On the other hand there was a generic patchouli champa that used to be part of a dipped range of champas that wasn’t quite as successful but had some interesting elements in that it had a bit of a crayon subaroma and a mellower patchouli vibe. The Niyama Sutra is more in the middle, it has the crayon subaroma as well as a slight touch of the old patchouli champa scent and comes off being fairly friendly overall. The description gives vanilla and rose, so it’s quite possibly my detection of patchouli is largely because this reminds me of patchouli champa, but I detect more of the former than latter. Still, very nice.

Coming up as soon as I can get them written up, the last four incenses in the Sutra range (Pranayama, Pratayahara, Samadhi, Yama), the “King of Incense” range, and four new scents from Dhuni. Thanks once again to Paul at Happy Hari for his generosity.

20 Comments

New Incenses

January 25, 2012 at 10:03 pm (Dhuni, Happy Hari, Kyukyodo, Mother's India Fragrances, Ross, Yamada Matsu)

Beth at EOA has both the new Dhunis’s and Happy Hari lines listed now, both of which are pretty high on the “goodness” charts for Indian incenses. These are hand rolled and seem much more real (read natural) than anything else on the market (Mothers might be in this group also), at least to my nose. Of course, short of some very expensive testing there is no sure fire way to tell, and even GC/MS testing is open to interpiation. Go with what smells/feels right to you.

Over at Equinox Aromatics, Andrew has brought in Star Child from England. They look to be very faithful to some of the esoteric teachings as well as also being all natural. Real Halmaddi is also available at his site and not to be missed, it is very entertaining to experiment with if you are making your own blends.

Kohshi has some new scents in, one of which is Sanjusangendo Incense. It comes out of a temple in Kyoto. Nice woody/amber scent with a hint of cinnamon. They also have Kyukyodo and Yamada Matsu available. It is generally best to call the store and check what’s in stock.

Enjoy   -Ross

1 Comment

Top Ten November 2011

December 1, 2011 at 10:41 pm (Awaji-Baikundo, Baieido, Happy Hari, Kyukyodo, Ross, Seijudo, Tennendo, Uncategorized, Yamada Matsu)

1. Akikaze from Kyukyodo: This is part of what I think of as the “The Heavy Hitters in Wood Boxes” from Kyukyodo. You can get an idea about them at this page in our blog. With luck I will get a review of them out in a week or two. This one is a reasonable price (for what one is getting) with a really beautiful perfume note on top of the woods and a light musk back note. You can check with Kohshi/Japan Incense for availability. I think Kyukyodo does this type of style (perfumed floral’s mixed with quality wood) really well and it very hard to beat here.

2. Kyara Seiran from Seijudo: This is number two in Seijudo’s high end line up, based mostly on price point, not scent. I think it is a little less strong and more likable then the Kyara Enju while still being heavily laced with a very strong set of wood notes and spices with musk undertones. If you are in the market for a Kyara blend this is a great one. I find myself liking it more in the cooler months; it is also very relaxing and quite nice in the evening. It is right up there at the pinnacle of this style and not to be missed; it also comes in a number of different sizes and price points.

3. Byakudan Kokoh from Baieido: This is one of the very best of the “straight up” Sandalwoods, in other words, no perfumes and minimal spices or herbs. It is pretty dry in scent but very true to Sandalwood’s nature. Great for reflection or the post work chilling. Baieido really does the woods oh so well, it is hard to go wrong with them and this is a real winner in a old Japan incense style.

4. Enkuu from Tennendo: You can check in the blog for the notes on this one, it has always been a favorite here at ORS and with good reason. It is very much on the dry side of the scent spectrum, it is also has a very clean (not pine or camphor) set of notes to it combined with a very unique and clear wood base of Aloeswood.

5. Cracked Earth from Aluwwah:  Aluwwah is a Canadian Oud  oil and wood seller as well as an incense maker. He has a number of styles of real, hand made Bakhoors at his site. They use real ingredients and quality woods and oils. This one has a nice resinous note mixed with some woods and ambers. It is somewhat lighter in scent then the Bakhoors that I have tried before, which I like as it tends to allow me to check out the different aspects of the mix. There was also a mix called Deer’s Breath that was a huge floral/musk/oud master piece. It’s out of stock but I hear tell that a successor called Lamb’s Breath is in the works.

6.Deep Earth 2011 from Mermade Incense: For the incense heater or coals, but for sure made to be slowly heated up. Stunning deep resin notes wrapped around woods and herbs, I think the name pretty much says it all. Perfect for Fall into Winter.

7. Evergreen Forest Incense from Mermade Incense: This is, again, for an incense heater, you could also try Sacred Grove if you wanted something along the lines of a cone. Either produce a wonderful “in the forest” scent that freshens up the atmosphere and generates a wonderfully clean and very green scent. Very much a Winter forest scent and just a wonderful treat for the senses.

8. Jihi – Amacha kou from Awaji-Baikundo: Very strong and beautiful amber note with borneal camphor added as well as Hydrangea Tea. I think this is one of the most beautiful amber’s on the market, no matter what country you are from. It is a very clean and warm offering that really livens up a space and would also be great to scent ones clothing with. Very long lasting scent.

9. Meena Supreme from  Happy Hari: Easily one of the very best of the Indian incenses and in general this company looks to be a real winner all around. I have not gotten to try the newer releases yet but you can see Mike’s notes within the blog. This has all the deep floral’s along with the woods and spices. There is also enough separation between the notes to make it really interesting. It is pretty strong; you might not want to start here if you are going to be going through a number of different sticks at one setting.

10. Genmyo from Yamada Matsu: These are in the kneaded style or incense balls. These happen to have Kyara and Aloeswoods plus a spice and oil (I think) blended together for a more modern take on this style. There a sort of amber and caramel mix that rides across the woods. There are three different blends from YM that Kohshi has at their retail outlet in San Francisco. The Aloeswood blend has this same set of notes but the amber/caramel notes are stronger and the woods more backed off. It sort of depends on the day as to which I like more.

3 Comments

Shroff Channabasappa / Dry Masala / Paris Beauty, Rose, Sachet, White, Woods

October 5, 2011 at 7:22 am (Incense, India, Mike, Rose, Shroff Channabasappa, Woods)

Shroff Channabasappa Part 1
Shroff Channabasappa Part 2
Shroff Channabasappa Part 3
Shroff Channabasappa Part 4
Shroff Channabasappa Part 5
Shroff Channabasappa Part 6
Shroff Channabasappa Part 7
Shroff Channabasappa Part 8
Shroff Channabasappa Part 9
Shroff Channabasappa Part 10
Shroff Channabasappa Part 11
Shroff Channabasappa Part 12
Shroff Channabasappa Part 13
Shroff Channabasappa Part 14
Shroff Channabasappa Part 15

This is the final installment (starting with Part 14) of Shroff dry masalas that covers everything up to the latest batch.

Paris Beauty, like Nine Flowers from the last installment, is another wood-based floral and the results are quite harsh. Even trying to distinguish what perfume is being attempted feels like breathing sawdust. It’s just too unpleasant an experience to work, a cheap perfume in a wood shop. To even discuss the florals doesn’t seem worthwhile as they’re masked and interfered with by the base from bottom to top.

The Rose would have been totally redundant with the Rose Masala, but since it strikes me as slightly better and not quite so sickly incense, it’s worth mentioning as an upgrade. As you might expect this isn’t a true rose scent, but it’s a decent floral aroma and still a rough toss in the rose direction. Amazingly, the base is slightly less harsh here than the lion’s share of incenses in this group.

Sachet is a bizarre name for another campfire blend, there’s a huge difference between dry herbs and this sort of harsh burning, bitter mix, like a bonfire of twigs. It’s very hard to see the point of this, it’s harsher than a lot of low grade Tibetans.

The White is so redundant and interchangeable with Kapoor Kacheri or Masala that you have to wonder why the company bothered with any of them. It has lighter touches like the Nagarmotha at times, but for the most part this still smells like burning two by fours with some of the paint still on them.

Don’t let the name Woods make you think it will be a better incense, quite frankly it’s difficult to tell from the aroma what woods were even used. The result is cheap and slightly alkaline, maybe even a little briny. It smells a little like a very cheap chandan sandalwood turned bad. Even if you like random firewood smoke, this still might strike you as off. Seems like just another way of making some money off sawdust to be honest.

Anyway, I can’t imagine most ORS readers will be happy with most of the last three installments of incenses, other than the Chypre these are usually very harsh, cheap woody sticks that barely differ one from the next. I don’t mean to pick on Shroff since they’re still practically the leader in Indian incense, but there’s really no excuse for this batch.

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Shroff Channabasappa / Dry Masala / Masala, Mysore Dashang, Nagarmotha, Nargis Natural, Nine Flowers

October 4, 2011 at 6:56 am (Floral, Incense, India, Jasmine, Mike, Shroff Channabasappa)

Shroff Channabasappa Part 1
Shroff Channabasappa Part 2
Shroff Channabasappa Part 3
Shroff Channabasappa Part 4
Shroff Channabasappa Part 5
Shroff Channabasappa Part 6
Shroff Channabasappa Part 7
Shroff Channabasappa Part 8
Shroff Channabasappa Part 9
Shroff Channabasappa Part 10
Shroff Channabasappa Part 11
Shroff Channabasappa Part 12
Shroff Channabasappa Part 13
Shroff Channabasappa Part 14

This group continues looking at the dry masalas from recent Shroff batches that started in Part 14.

The Masala is not very different at all from Kapoor Kacheri (is calling an incense Masala mean this is like a generic?) and especially from Natural Masala of which this seems a variant. It’s a mixture of cheap scented burning woods and leaves, mixed with a slight bit of sweetness. Like a lot of incenses in this group, its main feature is just being boring, Woody masalas of this quality are likely to do little more than irritate your sinuses.

Once again, the Mysore Dashang is a highly dry, woddy masala style, but at least in this case there’s a move to create a more distinct aroma out of it. It’s not a great one, it still kind of has the harvesty quality of burning leaves, but at least here the sandalwood is a touch sweet so the overall stick isn’t as harsh as some of the others in this group. Overall it seems a waste of time and money when you compare this to the wet masalas.

The Nagarmotha has a light, grassy aroma that smells like a quality brush fire. Like so many incenses in this batch, this has cheap wood and a tedious base. All of these tend to run together after a while, even after a half to a dozen sticks there doesn’t appear to be anything to lift these above almost any of the other incenses the company creates.

The Nargis Natural is unnecessary, really, with the much more distinct 1931 scent available. This is similar in style to the Rose Natural, with a gentle floral scent buried in a sandalwood/cheap wood/benzoin mix. Like the others, this is kind of harsh, but at least you do get an idea of the flower scent. But again, very fair overall.

The Nine Flowers came in the same batch as the Bakhoor and Paris Beauty, along with the wet masalas. Like its name it contains a combination of florals that ends up scented like pink valentine candies. However one might expect the word “Natural” here similar to the Rose Natural and Nargis Natural as like those this is a wood based floral that’s really not the best way to portray gentle floral scents. However, of this group this is marginally the best.

Paris Beauty, Rose, Sachet, White and Woods up next installment.

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