Incenses are back in stock at Essence of the Ages. These are among the best in Tibetan incenses.
Highland/Samye Monastery
July 3, 2011 at 12:22 pm (Highland, Incense, Incense News, Mike, Samye Monastery, Tibet Autonomous Region)
March 2011 Top 10
April 5, 2011 at 11:03 am (Amber, Champa, Dhuni, Evergreen/Forest, Floral, India, Japan, Kyukyodo, Mike, Mint, Rose, Shroff Channabasappa, Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibetan Medical College, Vetivert / Khus)
- Shroff Channabasappa/Wet Masala/Little Woods – Quite simply this is one of the best Indian incenses you can buy. I think I’ve lost count how many sticks I’ve gone through at this point, there have been times where I’ll just burn one after the other. In fact I’ve been meaning to get to this latest and finest batch from Shroff, but haven’t found the time yet, but this one is described as containing fouger, rose, ambery sandal and oriental scents. It strikes a balance I can barely describe, but has an oil mix that’s extremely addictive.
- Shroff Channabasappa/Wet Masala/Darshan – This spearmint fronted work of magic could be interchangeable with Little Woods, as I’ve burned nearly as many sticks of this. This is an Indian incense I think almost everyone will like, it’s redolent of minty, spice cookies and very friendly.
- Kyukyodo/Musashino – Kyukyodo have a kyara and it’s a lot different from the dark and resinous kyaras you’ll find in, say, Shoyeido’s stable. In fact the first time I tried a stick it was difficult to describe because it has a lot of similarities with other Kyukyodo green sticks (Denpo for example) in that it’s kind of light and foresty. But once you get used to it and the green kyara note comes through, it becomes breathtaking. Like most kyaras it’s an expensive buy (given other Kyukyodo prices, my guess this would run $350 or so at 20 sticks if it was imported here) but in this case there’s really no other kyara like it.
- Meena Supreme – There’s an up and coming new company in Britain who’s set forth trying to import some incenses not generally seen outside of India and Meena Supreme was the first one (a more indepth review is forthcoming) I received. This was described to me with a hail of superlatives and has managed to live up to most of them. It’s a fluxo style incense, very thick and smokey with some earthiness in the background making it somewhat akin to Sai Flora. Quite frankly I’d have trouble describing the aroma even after going through two boxes of it, except to say it’s extremely addictive.
- Dhuni/Kashi (new version) – I’m not sure what’s going on in the Dhuni labs of late, but their latest care package was absolutely astounding despite there only being one true new scent. What else arrived was improved versions of three of their incenses. The new Kashi seems to increase the thickness and richness of the sticks. If you’ve ever tried Honey Dust or Vanilla or Satya Natural then you’ll know this scent, but I guarantee you’ve never smelled it at this level of luxuriousness. For me, it rejuvenated a scent I think I’d grown rather tired of.
- Dhuni/Special Amber (new) – The one stick sample of this I received is possibly the largest stick of Indian incense I’ve ever encountered, in fact I wondered if I could use it to defend myself. And bigger is better is definitely the case with this new version which seems to increase the content of the fine amber resins being used because at times this stick is like burning a fine resin mix, very sublime and much more balanced and measured than the original version (which was pretty great in its own right as it was). This is definitely one I’ll want to restock.
- Kyukyodo/Murasakino – It’s difficult to tell for sure, but other than the Musashino above, I’d probably put Murasakino at the top of the premium Kyukyodo aloeswood list. It comes in a variety of different boxes and packages but the silk roll in pawlonia box is probably the standard version. This is a potent, green aloeswood with that wonderful sharp acridity good wood always brings. And unlike Haru-no-yama, this is different enough from the Sho-Ran-Ko to make it feel not too duplicative.
- Dhuni/Khus – Much thanks to the Dhuni group for stocking me up on this utterly fine and fantastic vetivert champa. I had left a stick of this burning upstairs last night and remember just how incredible the aroma it left. Vetivert is often described as cooling, which isn’t something I always pick up in incenses it contains, but this one has absolutely nailed that vibe. This one’s an essential.
- Shroff Channabasappa/Ruby – I’m a little slower burning this one because I haven’t nabbed a 100g box yet and it took me a few sticks, but when it comes to the red colored, floral/rose type of champa, this one is the supreme version by a long way with a perfume intensity that’s unusual for this style. Very well rounded and gorgeous.
- Tibetan Medical College/Holy Land – What can I say that I already haven’t on this one. Still a staple around here and just polished off another box (third maybe?). In a class of its own.
Top Ten for January 2011
January 31, 2011 at 11:42 pm (Al Haramain, Anne, Chagdud Gonpa Foundation, Direct Help Foundation, Hougary/Premium, Lotus, Mermade Magickal Arts, Mother's India Fragrances, Nepal, Shunkodo, Sitar Dorje Unsurpassable Healing Incense, Tibetan Medical College)
Happy New Year, everyone! May 2011 be a good one for you, bringing health and happiness, and lots of great incense!
It’s my turn up at bat for the Top Ten for Jan 2011. The top ten can be difficult at times due to the sheer amount of great incense out on the market, and the many personal faves that I have. However, for this month, I’ve decided that the following ten incenses are my favorite this January. In no particular order, they are:
-The Direct Help Foundation Eternal Maiya incense. A lovely blend of sandalwood and patchouli, where the sandalwood provides the expected woody note and the patchouli a light airiness that is both earthy and slightly sweet.
-The Direct Help Foundation Oum Pure Sandalwood incense. Sandalwood incense done up Tibetan style that has sandalwood and sandalwood oil. The sandalwood and the sandalwood oil are a one- two punch combo that makes this superior incense, one with a truly delightful sandalwood aroma. This is not high end incense like Shroff’s natural sandal that runs north of $150 USD. This is much more modest incense, but one that still manages to be quite good.
-From Chagdud Gonpa Foundation, Sitar Dorje’s Unsurpassable Healing Incense (P’hul-Jung Men-Po). This is absolutely lovely incense that ranks right up there with Dzongchen Monastery and Holy Land, in my opinion. Unsurpassable Healing Incense is like a first cousin to both, having similarities to Dzongchen and Holy Land, but is still different enough and with its own character that make it unique. This is another earthy, resiny, floral, musky blend. It’s an “all rounder”, hitting all those aforementioned bases, and has that special mojo that is both calming and uplifting at the same time. Some of the ingredients are aloeswood, white and red sandalwood, frankincense, saffron, valerian, magnolia, musk…etc. The scent itself manages to be both fresh and floral, with a darker resinier base and herbaceous endnotes with a touch of musk.
-Holy Land Grade 1. Well, I finally bit the bullet and bought this once it was back in stock over at EOTA. I’m glad I did, though, as that it is definitely a worthy purchase. I won’t write too much about this one due to the fact that it’s been covered extensively here on the ORS. Suffice to say that this incense that as Mike might say, “has mighty mojo that borders on being mystical.” The scent is darker, muskier, and less floral than either Dzongchen or Unsurpassable Healing Incense. If Holy Land incense was a food product, I’d say that it’s more savory than sweet (if that helps any in getting an idea of its scent and description).
-Mother’s Fragrances Lotus Incense. A singular and linear incense and scent, where there’s no complexity but dang if this isn’t a good one. Slightly sweet, and of course floral, this is incense that is very calming and is a good room scent. It’s one to use when having guests over as that it gently perfumes the room but isn’t overwhelming perfumey or ostentatiously showy.
-Mother’s Fragrances Atma Incense. The Mother’s incense catalog is simply superb, with their Nag Champa line being quite a standout. One of my favorites from their Nag Champa collection is Atma. A delirious blend of various ingredients, with floral notes and sweetness from halmaddi and honey. This is a tough one to describe because so many things are going on, and it’s all going on at the same time, the ingredients are working together and not against one another. It’s a symphony of scent, with lead violin being performed by the lavender, the cello is geranium, piano is vetiver, and the triangle is clove with halmaddi as the composer, and honey is the conducter.
-Hougary frankincense resins. A hold over from last month’s Frankincense and Myrrh review, but when incense is this good, it’s going to pop up continually in a lot of people’s “best of” lists. Bright, citrusy, fresh and fragrant, this is frankincense royalty. If you like frankincense at all, do yourself a favor and get some hougary.
-Duggatl al Oud Wardh Taifi. My favorite rose incense of all time, and one that provides an astonishing authentic fresh rose scent. There are many rose incenses out in the market, but this one stands head and shoulders over them all, in my opinion. Simply gorgeous and a must try for rose lovers.
-Mermade Magickal Arts Faery Call. I don’t know about you, but in the midst of winter, I often dream about and long for spring. This incense brings a touch of freshness and brightness and evokes spring and summer in appearance and scent. Literally garnished with dried flowers of marigold petals, rose petals, and lavender buds, and deliciously scented with neroli and other top notch ingredients, this incense is sure to put you in a cheerier mood and drive away the winter blues.
Shunkodo Haru no Kaori. The name of this incense translated into English means ‘smell of spring.’ Can you tell that I’m tired of winter? :) This is great incense, more subtle than Faery Call, but equally good in its own way. As to be expected, it’s more refined being Japanese incense, with a less in your face scent bouquet. There’s the added touch of aloeswood, which adds that certain “je ne sais quoi” quality, that extra special touch that puts this incense into the category of wonderful.
The above incenses can be found at various retailers on the net. The Faery Call incense can be purchased from Mermade Magickal Arts, and the Sitar Dorje’s Unsurpassable Healing Incense from http://www.tibetantreasures.com/tthtml/ttmerch/incense.htm. Incidentally Tibetan Treasures will be going offline from February 7th to March 7th for a site renovation, and will return on March 8th. As such, if you want to purchase the Unsurpassable Healing incense, I recommend that you do it soon to avoid delays in processing and shipping.
What are the incenses that you have been burning lately? Are there any that are your “go to” ones to beat the winter blahs? Chime in and share your thoughts!
Top Ten Incenses for July 2010
July 29, 2010 at 7:08 pm (Al Haramain, Anne, Baieido, Bakhoor, Frankincense, Fred Soll, Gangchen, Incense Top 10 Lists, Minorien, Pure-Incense, Sandalwood, Shroff Channabasappa, Swiss Arabian, Tibetan Medical College, UAE)
I have the pleasure of writing up the Top Ten Incenses for the month. Below are my top ten for July 2010. In the review process, I’ve re-acquainted myself with forgotten favorites, and have had to revise an opinion of an incense which at first I didn’t particularly care for all that much. That’s one of the bonuses of writing top ten reviews – old favorites resurface and remind you why their favorites and other incenses get additional chances to impress.
Well, without further ado, here’s my July Top Ten for 2010:
Pure Incense Blue Lotus: Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and indeed, that’s what I’ve found with this incense. It’s been a while since I’ve burnt some Blue Lotus incense, and I only recently returned to it, but I’m glad that I did. I’ve been critical in the past about Pure Incense, citing their base blend of charcoal, vanilla, and sandalwood creates a generic shared aroma to all their incenses. I still think that is the case, but that shouldn’t detract from the fact that they make very good incenses. This Blue Lotus is floral and perfumey, and sweet, and really all around lovely.
Shroff Patcholie (Patchouli): Earthy and perfumey, with just a touch of sweetness, this is a wonderful patchouli scent. It’s got a good scent throw, and one stick will scent a large room easily, leaving a lingering patchouli scent that is sure to please. One of the best patchouli incenses out there, with an authentic aroma, very affordable, and lasts a good long time. If you like patchouli, you owe it to yourself to try Shroff’s Patcholie.
Fred Soll’s Desert Patchouli: Different from Shroff’s patcholie in that there’s Soll’s signature blend of pinon resin present in this incense. This is a really nice patchouli pinon combination, with the pinon adding a nice resiny finish to the stick. Unlike Shroff’s version, the patchouli scent doesn’t have that sweet note in it, either. This is a lighter and drier patchouli scent and worth trying as well.
Hougary Frankincense: This is the King, nay, the Emperor of all franks, and if you like frankincense, then you really must sample Hougary. Resiny rich, with the balsamic base note and the wonderful citrusy lemon and/or orange top note, Hougary, which comes only from Oman, is in a class all by itself. Hougary is more expensive than other frankincenses, but you get what you pay for, and here you’ll get top notch quality. Even unlit, these resins perfume the air with their unique rich resin scent.
Al Haramain Bait Al Arab Cambodi Oudh Bakhoor: Baby, it’s bakhoor, and what a bakhoor! If you are unfamiliar with bakhoor, it is a type of incense from the Middle East. Bakhoor can come in tablets, pellets, and/or chunks of woodchips. Bakhoors generally contain oudh (aloeswood) scent and are usually very aromatic and/or perfumey. Seriously, virtually every bakhoor that I’ve ever tried has packed a serious scent wallop. A little goes a very, very, very long way with these incenses. Al Haramain’s version of Bait Al Arab shouldn’t be confused with Swiss Arabian’s Bait al Arab (which was previously reviewed here on the ORS). Firstly, Al Haramain’s Bait al Arab comes in perfume drenched wood chunks or chips, and not dry tablets like the Swiss Arabian version. Secondly, these woodchips are just permeated with one of the loveliest mélange of scents. A lot is going on here; the overall scent is a complex blend of oudh, amber, floral essences, and resins. It’s very rich – and err, so is the price tag for this bakhoor. Available at ParadisePerfumes.com, this retails for $39 CDN for 100 grams. However, since it is such a potent bakhoor, a little does go a long way and therefore this will last a long time. So in the end, you will get quality and your money’s worth. This is just my personal preference, but if I had to choose between Swiss Arabian’s version or Al Haramain’s version, I’d go with Al Haramain’s Bait Al Arab. Incidentally, note that you will need charcoal tablets and/or an electric incense burner for this bakhoor. This type of incense cannot be burnt by itself, and needs a heating element like a hot coal or an electric incense burner.
Swiss Arabian’s Kashkha Oodh Muattar: Another bakhoor, this time from Swiss Arabian. This bakhoor smells like a sophisticated aloeswood floral perfume. I’m not kidding, if you like perfumey aloeswood, or just perfumes and colognes in general, you should consider trying this bakhoor. Kashkha comes in small agarwood (aloeswood) pellets, and even unlit, smells of oudh, musk, and floral essences. This is because the agarwood has been drenched in concentrated perfume, and thus emits its oudhy floral goodness into the air. Though bakhoors aren’t generally aimed as for being for one particular gender, I would classify the Kashkha scent as being more feminine. It truly does remind me of a high end women’s perfume. This bakhoor also requires charcoal tablets and/or an electric incense burner to burn it. Note that this bakhoor is available for purchase at: http://www.mukhalat.com/Bakhoor_c2.htm. I hasten to add that I did not purchase my Kashkha bakhoor from Mukhalat.com, so I have no idea what their customer service is like. However, note that Mukhalat offers free shipping on all products for delivery within the USA.
Gangchen Healing Buddha Incense: Excellent and affordable incense from Gangchen. The box states that “These Aroma Therapeutic incense is made from very special thirty-one (agar 31) natural ingredients. This incense specially made for Lungny (wind diseases) which we got from nervous and fear, such as heart attack, insomnia, shivering, temporary loss of consciousness, back pain, dryness of the mouth. This incense can help. Also it’s very good for massage.” This is gentle and soothing incense, with a soft woody aroma. The scent is comprised of aloeswood, juniper, and Himalayan herbs. I personally find it very calming and relaxing, and one good for decompressing and unwinding.
Baieido’s Koh En: A delicious spicy aloeswood treat that is to be whipped out for those special occasions, or when one is feeling particularly indulgent and/or flush. This is one of Baieido’s more upscale aloeswood incenses, and retails for $120 USD for sixty 6.5 inch sticks (though given how expensive some of the kyara incenses are, this is really more like the mid-tier or low end of the upscale level!). My budget doesn’t allow for this to be an everyday treat. But when that aloeswood craving needs to be satisfied, this incense is one that will certainly fit the bill (alas, in more ways than one! 
).
Minorien Fu-In Sandalwood: Classic sandalwood scent, using classic “old mountain” sandalwood from India. If you’re looking for an authentic sandalwood scent that won’t break the bank, then try Minorien Fu. This is excellent sandalwood incense, and one that is not likely to disappoint.
Tibetan Medical College’s Holy Land Grade 2: This is a surprise entry even to me, given that when I first tried Holy Land Grade 2 a few months ago, I was underwhelmed. All the hype and praise heaped upon it had built it up to mythical levels, plus I was still in my perfumey incense phase, and was at the time, taken aback by this incense’s muscular rawness, its combination of musk and floral and spice and dark earthiness. To give you a point of reference, if you’ve tried Dzogchen Monastery Lotus Incense, think of Holy Land Grade 2 as similar to that, but amplified and expanded upon. Anyway, as time passed and I fell into a Tibetan incense phase, I started burning the HL Grade 2, and slowly, little by little, I went from being disinterested to liking it, and now to really loving it. In a previous email to an ORS reader, I had stated that once I had used up my HL Grade 2 that I wasn’t going to re-purchase it, opting instead to spend my money on other incenses. But now, as I look at the last few sticks of it in my collection, I’m forced to reconsider that notion…
Well there you have it, my top ten for the month – all incenses that I heartily recommend. What ten incenses are in your top ten for July? Chime in and let us know what you’ve been burning, and why. 
Best,
Anne
March 2010′s Top Ten
March 31, 2010 at 6:46 pm (Chandra Devi, Dzogchen Monastery, Gangchen, Incense, Incense Top 10 Lists, Keigado, Mermade Magickal Arts, Mindroling Monastery, Shroff Channabasappa, Tennendo)
SAMPLER NOTES: Tun Bo / Dream, Heart, Sentient Beings, Traditional, Triple Gem
February 17, 2010 at 11:52 am (Incense, Incense Notes/Samplers, Tibet Autonomous Region, Tun Bo)
This isn’t a bad place to add a quick discussion to the difference between full reviews and what I call sampler notes. In the latter case, notes are made from what I feel is something of an insufficient supply, but usually because what I sampled doesn’t necessarily make me want to buy a full roll or box. In the case of the five Tun Bo incenses, I was given a larger supply a little later of the Heart incense and it’s probably telling that of the five incenses here it’s the one I like the most, probably because I’m more familiar with it.
Tun Bo appears to come from the Tibetan Autonomous Region and its incenses have some slight similarities to those from Medicine King, however these are much milder scents and in many ways probably have more in common with Nepali incenses in that despite what seem to be large ingredient lists often come off as just mildly woody with some spices. And these ingredient lists include all sorts of things like saffron, musk, crocus, angelica, styrax and many more, yet for some reason I wasn’t really able to parse a lot of individual scents with only a stick or so. So I want to preface this group of samples by saying that it’s quite possible I didn’t have enough of a supply of four of these to really eke out more than mild impressions.
Dream is the closest in style to the Medicine King Special Medicinal Incense, but it doesn’t have that scent’s richness and depth. It shares the sort of wood and corn chip aroma some of these Tibetans exude, but despite a freshness of ingredients, the overall scent struck me as being fairly plain. Heart doesn’t deviate much (although it has a red rather than brown color), but it does seem to me that the saffron is quite noticeable and there’s a touch of spice that seems to give this a bit of richness. However like I mentioned, I’ve lived with this one longer and know it better than the others. Sentient Beings is less rich than the previous two incenses, much woodier with a noticeable tinge of rhododendron in the mix (giving it similar tendencies to the Maya Devi Rhododendron Anthopogon). It’s mixed with a slight sweetness but overall it has the typical simplicity of your duller Nepali woody sticks. In fact some Indian sticks are more aromatic while unlit. Traditional shares a similar generic like formula with the Sentient Beings, albeit without the rhododendron or corn chip base scent. There is some herbal tendencies here but for the most part I found it difficult to get an idea of. Triple Gem is probably the woodiest of the bunch and even moves in the campfire like direction many Nepalis evince.
I did make an effort to have my nose cleared before sampling these (on two different occasions) especially when it occured to me that in burning them in this order, it seemed like I was getting some fatigue, but the pattern repeated itself on a second rotation. Except for Heart I still end up feeling these get an incomplete grade, mostly due to my experience with other incenses from the TAR that open up quite a bit with famililarity.
The Olfactory Rescue Service Top 25 (Mike and Ross)
December 17, 2009 at 9:02 am (Baieido, Daihatsu, Dzogchen Monastery, Gyokushodo, Highland, Incense, Incense Top 10 Lists, India, Japan, Kunmeido, Kyukyodo, Mermade Magickal Arts, Minorien, Mother's India Fragrances, Pure-Incense, Purelands, Seijudo, Shoyeido, Shroff Channabasappa, Shunkodo, Tennendo, Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibetan Medical College, United States)
Today we introduce to you the Olfactory Rescue Service Top 25. However, unlike our usual top 10s and last year’s combined top 20, we thought we’d do something a little bit different and a little bit tricky. This year’s top 25 is something of a meta-list, in a way we want to capture the best of incense by looking at things from a larger perspective. So instead of having one incense per entry, we’re just going for broke: full companies, sublines, incenses, incense materials, incense supplementals – everything we could think of that would lead to a top tier incense experience. In fact we started at a top 20, expanded it to a 25 to make sure we got everything and ended up with a pretty good group.
Please keep in mind as always that our best of lists are something of a lark. For one thing I think both Ross and I probably find it somewhat difficult to truly tier these in order and so while maybe we like the stuff at the top a little more than at the bottom, maybe, there’s no particular rhyme or reasoning to the ordering and we consider everything on here to be superlative work, perhaps with a few individual idiosyncracies we won’t mention. As a whole though, I think this is a good look at what we consider the best incense related stuff on the US market today and we’ve pared it down only to include what is available here. As each entry often includes several incenses, we’ve left off links to reviews and sites, but just about everything on here has been reviewed previously and links to them can be found in our Reviews Index. So, after the cut, the ORS Top 25. Read the rest of this entry »
Dzogchen Monastery / Lotus Ground Incense
July 13, 2009 at 9:35 am (Dzogchen Monastery, Incense, Tibet Autonomous Region)
Lotus Ground Incense is one of the finest offerings to be imported from China in the modern age, a truly spectacular, refined incense of an uncommonly high class. Sold in single or double rolls, this is a world class incense, not only among the best Tibetan China has to offer, but quite arguably the most sophisticated and Japanese-worthy scent to be offered. Not only is the stick slightly thinner than most Tibetan sticks, but it’s also redolent of extracts and perfumes directly on the stick.
When I first opened the box I knew this one would be special as it gives off a strong, spicy aroma like a combination of cinnamon, saffron and musk. And strangely enough, cinnamon isn’t even listed in its primary group of 17 ingredients, which also include red and white sandalwood, titepati, ganden grass, jattamasi, sunpati, aggur, kushum flower, surchandan and saldhoop. I would expect some of these ingredients show up as extracts as this is as redolent a Tibetan incense off the stick as you’ll find.
Aromatically this is also fairly unusual in that the smoke content’s a bit lower than it normally is for a Chinese Tibetan incense and the remaining ash tends to a brick red color, which is fairly unusual for any incense. The scent is both mellow and striking in its intensity, a rare balance, that puts the saffron, cinnamon and musk up front as the base aroma, but also implies a much greater complexity than these three afford in their own right. There’s definitely an unsual floral element at work that winds its way through the burn almost like it’s playing hide and seek, in fact the nature of this incense is almost like a sine curve in the way that it’ll play subtly in the background and then whip out to stun you with its pristine and regal bouquet. Like most excellent monastery incense it has loads of juju or spiritual potency at work and it seems difficult to not call this incense a product of the fire element, like kundalini at its very base, indeed its playfulness is very much like watching the flickering of a flame.
Overall it’s difficult not to see this one close to the apex of incense art, along with Tibetan Medical College, Samye Monastery, Medicine King and Highland incenses, but even with that said there’s even a greater refinement on this one, as it’s not quite as wild and untamed as the rest of these. Ultimately it’s a brilliant, classic incense that gets the highest marks I can give it. Tis a really prescient find via Essence of the Ages and the bonus is it’s also quite affordable, running about $13 a roll.
Medicine King / Saffron Medicinal, Mandala Special Medicinal, Five Zambala Powder, Special Medicinal Powder
February 17, 2009 at 5:12 pm (Incense, Medicine King, Tibet (Unspecific))
A while back, I made some notes on two Medicine King sticks, but as can be the case I’m not sure I did them much justice initially, as this is a truly impressive line across the Tibetan spectrum, up there with the best Tibetan incense has to offer. While Medicine King doesn’t seem to be allied with any specific monastery, they create incense from ancient recipes, information for which can be found at the product link at Essence of the Ages, at the bottom of the page.
Medicine King export four incenses here, two sticks in very attractive boxes, and two powders available in 100g and 200g packages. All of these incenses are extraordinarily complex and sophisticated blends that represent the higher end of Tibetan incense and earn the asking price. The ingredients appear to be very low (if not completely absent) on inexpensive woods and fillers and feature so many facets as to be difficult to cover entirely on initial burns or even two or three experiences. I initially found the sticks to be a bit on the dry side, but my opinion on this has changed, perhaps because the bundles tend to dissipate much slower than samples. Over time, my opinion on all of these has improved substantially and I consider them nearly on par with the best Tibetan incense has to offer (Tibetan Medical College, Highland, Samye Monastery etc.)
The Saffron Medicinal incense certainly has the saffron present in both the fresh stick and the burning aroma. The sticks smell amazing even unlit, almost like spicy gingerbread cookies, but this aroma takes a bit of a back seat when the incense is burning. The saffron aroma is woven quite tightly to the other elements in the incense. Like many better quality Tibetan incenses there is a an almost corn chip like woodiness that’s central to the scent and which dominates early burns in scent, until one begins to pick up the panoply of herbs and spices mixed in. At this point the sweet spices come out a bit more, giving the whole experience a dry and rich feel. It’s an incense with a long learning curve for sure, one I don’t feel I’ve reached the end of.
Overall the Saffron Medicinal is something of a drier alternative to the Mandala Special Medicinal incense. Without the obvious addition of saffron, a lot of the spicy middle comes out in this incense and it’s one that has periodically made my Top 10 lists, it’s terribly addictive. I’m very fond of incenses which exhibit different characteristics from burn to burn and even within one stick, and this is a good example of one of these. Like the Saffron stick it still has that corn chip-like woodiness in the middle, but if that was the regular brand, this version has something of a barbeque or even mesquite like tang to the middle, a characteristic I occasionally notice in the high ends (not to mention a good indication we’re not in a cheap or filler wood territory). Perhaps without the strong presence of saffron in the incense, the other elements come out. It took me perhaps 10 sticks to realize this has quite the (animal?) musk presence to it, which really took it to another level for me once I noticed it. And just faintly there’s a defined agarwood presence – many Tibetan sticks count it as an ingredient but rarely is it an actual presence like it is in Japanese sticks. Like the Saffron, I still feel there’s a great deal to be learned about on this one, and it should be telling that in writing this I’m getting the urge to go burn a stick, one I can recommend without reservation.
The Five Zambala powder utterly electrified me on my first burn, like electricity shooting up my spine. It’s one of those Tibetans I’d describe as having a certain medicinal juju to it, an aspect common to most of the truly excellent and rare high end Tibetans (almost all of which seem to come from the Lhasa area). It’s astonishingly high grade and brilliant with a bright crystalline energy and the powder I’d say competes with the Highland as the best of the Tibetan powdered incenses. It’s salty, musky, sweet and rich, similar in some ways to Holy Land, but a bit sweeter and more overtly floral. What separates it from incenses in other line is a verdant greenness to it, in fact it almost has a snappy, green pepper like aroma on top of it that adds to its freshness. Most of this aroma comes out a bit stronger on the heater, on dar I found it a bit hotter and spicier and I assume that’s due to the floral volatility that knocks out some of the more subtle notes early on due to the heat. Again, this is one you don’t want to miss whatever your method of using incense powder is.
Comparatively, the Special Medicinal Powder isn’t quite as intense and seems to hit a more traditional note. It’s not so much a powder version of the stick as a totally different incense. It shares some of the same salty and green notes as Five Zambala, but in this case I notice a lot more benzoin/loban content in the middle, mellowing the sharper edges. On dar I found it to be sweeter and richer than on the heater, with the woods coming out quite a bit more (some sawdust here) and the tangy corn chip smell common to the sticks more prevalent, but this is quite a bit more sugary and sweet than the stick is upon burn. Given that the Special Medicinal stick smells quite sweet before the light, I’d suspect part of this is the method of burning being used. On dar it’s also less salty than on the heater. Of the four incenses here this is the one I know the least, so it’s perhaps a bit more insular to my nose than it might be down the line.
This is really an amazing company, one of the leading lights of modern Tibetan incense using the old recipes. Although you’ll be paying into the teens on these incenses, the quality you’ll be getting and payback are certainly higher than it would be for an incense a quarter of its price and you’ll likely marvel at just how impressive the Tibetan art is at its apex. Go with the Special Medicinal stick and Five Zambala powder for starters and if they impress, the other two should impress with their variation.
*For a couple weeks from the posting of this article, one can get a free box of the Medicinal stick with a purchase of Tibetan Medical College Holy Land Grade 2 and Mindroling Grade 3 at Essence of the Ages. I notice very little drop offs on these two from higher grades by the same company so figure this is something of a steal while it last.
Mindroling / Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Medicinal Powder, Naga Medicine Powder
February 10, 2009 at 3:03 pm (Incense, Mindroling Monastery, Tibet (Unspecific))
Mindroling Monastery (please refer to this page for a more detailed history of the monastery) is located in the Lhasa region of Tibet and like many monasteries still within the borders of China creates what we might call high-end Tibetan incense, incense that is remarkably expensive by the time it reaches our shores and uses ingredients that would likely fall inside ecological concerns over the use of animal products. Mind you, this is generally a guess as with most incenses we can only approximate exactly what goes in these incenses, but it’s safe to say that there’s likely animal musk in these incenses, given the potency involved. However the amount used is likely less than when compared to Tibetan Medical College, Highland and Samye Monastery, all entities that could be considered comparable in range to the Mindroling catalog.
Mindroling’s stick incense does have three grades to it, but unlike, say, Nado Poizokhang where there seems to be a gradual drop off in quality from grade to grade as the filler increases, the change in filler material dramatically changes the scent of the B and C grades of Mindroling. Grade A sports a light tan to near white color, grade B is a red stick typical of so many Tibetan incenses, and grade C is a much darker, brickish red. While there is certainly a theme, so to speak, throughout the three incenses, what this theme is mixed with changes the scent of the incenses dramatically. One would have to define this common scent from the ingredients in all three: white and purple sandalwood, musk, saffron, flos caryophylatta, borneol and others.
Grade A is one of, if not the most expensive Tibetan incense on the US market today. It’s a very nice incense as you’d expect but doesn’t necessarily earn its cost as most of the other high end Tibetans do and then some. For one thing, it’s a surprisingly simple incense even despite what seem to be very high quality ingredients. That is, this is not an incense with a lot of filler in it and thus exudes fairly rare qualities. It’s quite a wet and damp incense scentwise, similar in this way to Tashi Lhunpo’s Shing Kham Kun Khyab, but with a much better wood content, the fine sandalwood in the middle being particularly noticeable. There doesn’t appear to be much on top of the wood except for the damp, slighty musky top aroma and it mostly seems to reach for something just out of sight, rather than weaving the sort of intricate aroma you’d expect from a Tibetan stick of this price range. There’s no doubt we’re talking a very pure and high quality incense here, but it doesn’t end up being more than the sum of its parts. But it take me a dozen sticks or more to come to this opinion as it’s essentially so elusive.
Grade 2 has the Grade 1 theme embedded in it and with concentration one can suss out the better materials, but there’s no question there’s a great deal of (mostly quite pleasant) filler wood added to reduce the cost. In particular that evergreen/juniper berry type of scent common to so many Tibetan incenses seems to be prevalent here, although it doesn’t bring along with it the harshness typical of the style, leaving the cherry-ish or berry-like hints mostly unsullied. Mostly absent from the Grade 1 is the overt sandalwood content which is almost completely submerged at this grade. Grade 2 also loses some of the damp qualities of the first, leaving the scent quite a bit drier. The differences are so pronounced in a way that I find it difficult to see this as a lesser incense, at times I might like it even more than the Grade 1.
Strangely enough, the overt musk content seems to be at its highest in the Grade 3, which almost comes off like a low budget version of Tibetan Medical College’s Holy Land. The herbal theme from the first two grades is almost entirely submerged underneath the musky tones and at the same time the harsher qualities of the filler wood come out quite a bit more here than they did in the Grade 2 (also the thing that sets it well apart from the Holy Land). But with such a powerful musk, some balance is attained, despite that the filler is a bit eye stinging if you get too close. I doubt too many Grade 3s are this good, it’s less a lower quality version of the first grade than an entirely different incense overall.
Mindroling also features a couple different powdered blends. The superior of the two in price is the Naga Nectar, but I prefer the Medicinal Incense Powder. This blend is like a mixture of cinnamon, cardamom, strawberry, tobacco, sugar powder, tea, nutmeg or mace and other herbs. The central base like many incenses without a lot of filler wood is a sort of tangy cornchip like scent that’s like a cross between Mexican and masala spices, a scent akin to some of the Medicine King products and one slightly stronger when used on charcoal or a makko or dar base. What works for me with this powder is a slight rose and carnation-like floral element which fades fairly softly on a heater. Like many an intricate powder it’s most interesting in this format as the various oils volatize earlier or later, giving the scent a motile quality that’s quite fascinating.
It’s hard to imagine why the Naga Nectar Incense Powder is pricier given that the list of ingredients in the Medicinal powder such as the musk and two aloeswoods seem to imply a greater cost, but scentwise there does seem to be a damper, muskier presence in the Naga. While most of the Mindrolings aren’t particularly dangerous, the Naga Nectar has a funk to it that could be a bit off putting to the westerner, it even had something of a fungal nature to it. It’s not terribly far in scent from the Grade A except for this unsettling quality and an overtone that’s kind of grassy, weedy or drily herbal. Overall it’s not particularly friendly overall, more interesting than pleasant.
Mindroling products are definitely on the pricy side, ranging from just over $40 for a box of the Grade 1 to just under $20 for 50g of the Naga Nectar (the higher price of the Medicinal powder is due to the 100g content). As mentioned, all of these incenses are higher grade and better quality than the lion’s share of inexpensive Tibetan incenses, but at the same time I don’t find any of these really astonish like the product from some of the other entities I mentioned earlier. But make no mistake, these are fairly unadulterated incenses (except for the lowest grade stick) and quite authentic so your mileage will vary.
