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.

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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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Nitiraj / Color Aromatherapy Nag Champas / Black, Blue, Green, Gold, Orange, Purple, Red

September 27, 2011 at 10:54 am (Amber, Champa, Citrus, Floral, Fruit, Incense, Jasmine, Mike, Nitiraj, Rose, Sandalwood, Spice (Cinnamon Clove Nutmeg etc.), Vanilla, Woods)

This line up of Nitirag nag champa incenses seems to be one of the few remaining sublines in their catalog. There are seven aromas, undoubtedly to match up with the chakras, and they’re all created to represent a color in scent (there are no artificial colors on the incenses themselves). The entire line is more or less saddled with a lack of distinction in the same way so much of the Shrinivas line is, lots of aromas that only change  things to slight degrees.

Nitiraj’s Black Nag Champa for meditation lists sandalwood, vanilla and floral oils, which unfortunately doesn’t tell you much. And why would it? Everything is slightly tweaked here from the generic Nag Champa scent, especially the spicy middle and floral top notes, all of which are just gently different. The variation is quite nice, not up to the Shroff and Dhuni quality you’re seeing these days, but not poor either. It actually reminds me a little of the base that is part of the Nikhil flavored champas.

The Blue Nag Champa is for relaxation and contains rose, jasmine and sandalwood, making this somewhat similar to the Shrinivas “Valley of the Roses” incense. Like that incense the floral oils have an almost chemical-like scent and there’s no hint of true rose and very little jasmine. Unfortunately most floral champas don’t work out too well due to the avoidance of expensive ingredients and this is little different. There’s too much of a furniture polish thing going on here.

The Green Nag Champa is about balance and includes citrus oils with garden flowers and sandalwood. It’s quite nice, sandalwood heavy, with the citrus and flowers mixing in nicely and giving the entire incense an uplifting feel. The citrus oils in particular enhance the sense of freshness, strangely, in a way the Blue totally failed to accomplish. And most importantly, everything feels real with no off notes.

Wisdom is the theme of the Gold Nag Champa and the incense includes amber, jasmine and sandalwood. This champa is nice and hevay in the amber department, which gives the whole champa scent a totally different feel. The amber champas found in other lines are similar in style, but the jasmine really pops nicely in the mix (although a better jasmine oil might have made this a classic). Definitely one of this line’s best incenses, no surprise it gets the gold spot.

The Orange Nag Champa aims to evoke happiness and includes sweet woods and spices. It’s another semi-sweet champa, not terribly far from the Green if it had no citrus oils. Because of the lack of flashy ingredients, this also is still within the more specific nag champa aroma. It’s gentle, which is nice, but it doesn’t really have much in the way of a personality. There are Mother’s incenses that do this kind of thing much better, let alone Shroff’s Little Woods.

The Purple Nag Champa has a prayer theme and includes forest herbs and flowers. Another extraordinarily foofy, sweet nag champa, this one is mildly evocative of the sweetness of Honey Dust or Vanilla. Like with some of the other incenses in this line, it lacks a certain personality, althought it does seem to capture its color in a way the others don’t so much. Then again it doesn’t strike me as foresty in any way. Not much more to say, it reminds me of a forgettable Shrinivas offering.

Finally we have energy in the way of the Red Nag Champa which features exotic oils and sweet tropical fruits. At least in Red’s case we have a bit of vigor, probably due to the fruit oil mix (memories of Ajaro or Aastha from the Satya line come up here). But overall, we have the same issues, slightly weak and multiple ingredients combining for mild and unsuggestive aromas. This has sort of a champa mixed with a mild fruitiness that has little definition. It’s not unpleasant, but this just pales next to better incense.

There’s one more Nitiraj line, Masterpiece, although I believe this line may be on the way to deletion. But better than all of these, at least slightly, is Nitiraj’s gigantic Atmosphere brand which as a whole is a little more deluxe than the actual Nitiraj lines. Again, it’s worth keeping in mind that even when I’m positive about the incenses above, this is in no way to indicate these incenses are on the same level as the Mother’s champas, Shroff, Dhuni, Happy Hari etc.

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Shroff Channabasappa / Wet Masalas / Ruby, Shanti, Shran, Super Star

July 19, 2011 at 6:58 am (India, Kewda / Kewra / Pandanus / Screwpine, Mike, Rose, Sandalwood, Shroff Channabasappa, Vetivert / Khus)

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

For a bit more introduction to this series of wet masalas, please be sure to read Part 12 above.

Red or pink colored durbar or nag champa sticks (for instance Mystic Temple’s Kali Champa or Incense from India’s Red Poppies) are all fairly common in scent, they tend to be floral on top, usually in a rose-like direction. Even back in the days when halmaddi was more available very few of these stood out in any way and nowadays they’re almost interchangeable. So it’s fortunate that Shroff’s Ruby approaches the same formula and finally makes it go somewhere. For one thing the perfume that tends to be bland in other similar sticks is done much better here as you’d expect, with an interesting mix of rose and strawberry notes. The incense really fits its name, akin to a berry scented candle, but much richer. This one was something of a late comer for me, but now I’d consider it one of the best in this excellent range.

Shanti has the same perfume strength as Little Woods, but moves in spicier and herbal directions. The ingredients list this as a sandalwood and vetivert combination, but like Drona which shares these two ingredients, Shanti is much more distinct, and probably distinct enough in a way that you’ll either like this or not. The sandalwood is very noticeable on this one, at times it even seems concentrated, giving the whole scent a deep richness. This too has a caramel subnote and even a bit of sweet muskiness, but it seems to be something not on the ingredients list that sets this apart, as again, I’m not detecting any massive amounts of vetivert in this, but I do detect and herbal quality it might be providing through the combination.

Shran is an incense for screwpine/kewada lovers, as in many ways this might be described as a kewada champa. Unfortunately I’m not sure it works all that well as an incense, but then again I might not really count myself so much in the screwpine tent. The ingredients seem to be as high quality as any other incense in the range, including some rose and sandal notes in the mix, the former more or less overlapping some with the screwpine. It’s a mellow scent overall but I don’t find the base and perfumes to work all that well together, in fact it seems that any of the sweeter, richer notes in the base are actually fighting with the screwpine notes, which seems like it works better with more dryness.

Super Star seems to be modelled on Satya’s Super Hit, or at least the first time I burned a stick it reminded me of what Super Hit used to smell like when it was brilliant instead of dull. This is a beautiful combination of sandalwood, rose and what Shroff calls in several of these incenses “oriental” notes. The result is a very sweet champa with an accessible rose-infused aroma in front. In fact this scent has the breadth and richness of old school champas and is quite reminiscent of the kinds of scents Shrinivas did in its heyday. It’s quite easy to recommend this as it’s friendly on every level.

More Shroff reviews to come, this is one company that’s almost impossible to stay ahead of.

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Shroff Channabasappa / Wet Masala / Darshan, Drona, Little Woods, Nag Champa

July 18, 2011 at 7:00 am (Amber, Champa, Citrus, Fougere, India, Mike, Mint, Musk, Rose, Sandalwood, Shroff Channabasappa, Vetivert / Khus)

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

There are probably enough comments on Shroff’s last batch of wet masala incenses in various threads on ORS that reviews at this point are near redundant. This is partially because this batch is easily one of the best to be imported to the United States in years (perhaps only the batch with Pearl, Jungle Prince et al was more celebrated). In terms of quality to cost ratio, you may not find better incense out there.

Previously there were only two wet masalas, French Musk and Saffron. I think the French Musk probably fits better in style with the group represented by Pearl, Jungle Prince et al, which leaves Saffron as the best comparison for the new batch. However these don’t strike me as wet masalas in the same way the old halmaddi-rich champas did, they’re not particularly gooey or easy to pull apart. But they’re all very rich, powerful and high quality scents based on some combinations that you might not have come across before.

Fresh on the stick, Darshan is redolent of candy green spearmint and you’ll need to like that to like this incense. The other ingredient here listed is musk with citrus, but there aren’t any really overt citrus elements that come to my mind, such as lemon or orange. What happens is that the mint and musk end up combining with the sugar and spice base to give off an aroma not far off from baking Christmas cookies. There’s even an unusual caramel note in the mix that helps to increase its sweetness. If you’ve familiar with past spice champas (the one that comes to mind is the long, sadly deleted Blue Pearl Spice Champa) you’ll have the general idea, but the spearmint really makes this a one of a kind stick. I find it particularly impressive because mint oils are often powerful enough to overpower most other notes in an aroma, so the balance struck here is clearly the work of a very impressive recipe. I fell in love with this one instantly and never grow tired of it. I’m likely approaching 100g already burned already.

Drona could be the weakest of this new group of eight, but relatively speaking that still puts it way above the incenses in recent reviews like Nitiraj or Sarathi. The ingredients here are musk, sandalwood and vetivert, however only the musk strikes me as particularly obvious and you can definitely compare this incense in part to Shroff’s French Musk. It ends up being a little on the generic champa side and shares the caramel notes of the Darshan, but other than the slight vetivert teases along the outside, no other element in the incense is any louder. The aroma ends up being kind of light and fluffy, with slight touches of vanilla and cocoa powder, but unfortuantely it doesn’t really have much of a hook or personality to sell itself. One might think of a mild nougat scent, slightly creamy, even certain latte types are reminiscent.

Little Woods is quite simply one of those incenses ORS was created to tell people about, it’s a triumph on every level, simply one of the very best incenses you can buy at its price level. The ingredients here, perhaps confusingly, are listed as fouger, oriental, rose and ambery sandal. The former element appears to be particularly important, and rather than describe it myself, I’ll just send you here. Of course any really classic incense is going to have a blend so perfectly balanced that to break it down would be difficult, and that couldn’t be more true for Little Woods. I find some similarity between this and N Ranga Rao’s woods, particularly the way certain wood subnotes merge with almost citrus-like evergreen touches on the top, but that’s as far as the comparison goes, because the perfume on Little Woods is much richer. But part of why such a strong perfume works is because it’s grounded in a superior base, with a mix of floral notes, leather and spice tea. In fact even well in excess of 100g burned, I still notice new elements of the incense, in fact I’m sitting here now going, yeah I think I get some of that ambery sandal too. Anyway, essential. In caps and boldface.

Shroff’s Nag Champa is interesting because it came out so close to the Dhuni version with so many similarities that they’re worth comparing, however Dhuni’s own brand has actually improved and changed enough that newer versions probably aren’t so comparable. Anyway Shroff’s entry is very traditional, almost definitive in some ways, although like Dhuni it’s a bit thicker than what you’ll find from Satya, Shantimalai etc. In fact the red box is probably a good comparison, but Shroff’s Nag Champa  is not as close to that as Happy Hari’s Gold Nag Champa because it’s so much drier. Shroff’s version also, unsurprisingly, bears the hallmarks of their brilliant perfuming skills, but it’s to the point that you end up thinking most of the aroma is carried by it, and let’s face it, a nag champa entirely succeeds or fails on its base. I do have to admit, I’m actually starting to get worn out by nag champas, largely because outside of Dhuni, I’ve yet to see any that haven’t managed to disguise off base notes or even sometimes the bamboo stick and while Shroff’s version manages to be really clever with the gentle plumeria-like scent on top, you need a much more resonant base to make me forget the formula is still missing something it used to have. On the other hand, I do think the Shroff version gets the scent to affordability ratio down perhaps better than any other version, so if you’re a fan looking to get away from Satya, this will be a good choice.

Next up: Ruby, Shanti, Shran, Super Star…

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Sarathi Perfumery Works / Sri Govinda / Gopala, Keshava, Krishna, Madhava, Mukunda

July 15, 2011 at 7:02 am (Amber, Benzoin, Discontinued, Geranium, Honey, Incense, India, Jasmine, Mike, Myrrh, Patchouli, Rose, Sarathis Perfumery Works, Vanilla, Violet)

NOTE: This line has been discontinued

Sarathi Perfumery Works is responsible for Tulasi incense as well as this small, five incense Sri Govinda range. These five incenses all pair two different aromas in a champa style. While the link will take you to a page where you can purchase all five incenses, the incenses also come in larger boxes, although in my experience you’ll find each store varies in terms of what size and aromas they stock. Quality wise I’d say these are probably right above the Satya and Nitiraj ranges while still significantly below today’s premiums.

Gopala combines patchouli and vanilla, two ingredients fairly common in champa variants. In this case I’m far more reminded of Mystic Temple’s Vanilla Amber Champa than I am any patchouli champas, it’s almost as if the patchouli is something of a faint note in the incense. Overall the Gopala is quite dry as a result with the combination accentuating the sandalwood notes. It’s a bit one dimensional in the end but it does it nicely.

Keshava combines Rose and Geranium but as most incense veterans might guess, this is a lot more geranium than rose, although I’d even go as far to say that the geranium is actually kind of fuzzy, leaving the stick with a generic floral scent that doesn’t work particularly well with the sweet base. Overall it seems a bit too bitter or coarsely perfumed. It’s as if you’re burning two clashing incenses at once.

Sarathi’s Krishna mixes up honey and jasmine, two aromas that seem natural together, however like in the previous two incenses, one ingredient dominates and in this case it’s a jasmine scent somewhat reminiscent of Triloka’s. You can detect the honey but it sits below the jasmine as a subnote, probably as it marries with the base more. The combination doesn’t clash like the Keshava, but it’s not perfect, with a scent that strikes me as a little cloying due to a slight touch of soapiness.

Madhava is probably the most balanced of the three floral mixes in this group, combining violet and amber, which is a mix you don’t see very often if at all. At least in this case the oils don’t clash with the base like the Keshava did, and the violet sits on top of a gentle and sweet base. The amber merges into this, gently powdery and the combination gels, even if not in a particularly memorable way.

Mukunda definitely starts in the benzoin department with a decent quality scent (minus the rough and gravelly qualities associated with cheaper benzoin. The myrrh is difficult to pick out (an issue pretty common to myrrh incenses given how widely it can vary in scent) because it doesn’t have the individual qualities of good resin, but it does prevent this from being purely benzoin.In fact I detect a little more on the honey side in this one than I do with the Krishna.

I think in terms of whether you’d want any of these totally depends upon how deep you want your incense collection, as there’s a lot better and a lot worse. I think maybe these are a cut above Satya and Nitiraj because the base is better, in fact I often wondered going through these if some of the oils actually detracted from the base. But perhaps only the Madhava is memorable and even it’s not a perfect incense. The line has since been discontinued, but most of these incenses should still be locatable.

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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)

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.

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Thoughts about incense and perfume

February 26, 2011 at 7:11 pm (Aloeswood, Miscellaneous, Rose, Ross, Sandalwood)

I read Christian’s comments on in the ORS-News post about “incense note” perfumes and laughed. I recently ordered about 15 different samples from Lucky Scent (great selection) of perfumes and such listed as “incense note”. I realized that the word  or note “incense” means two very different things between the worlds of incense and perfume. In perfume it seems to refer to frankincense more than anything else while, really, the term incense is so much broader.

Many of the notes that make a piece of burning or heated quality sandalwood or aloeswood so special and unique are very hard to capture in a perfume. The element of heat adds an entire extra dimension to the scent. More even the heat of wearing it on one’s skin. The same is true if you heat a drop of sandalwood or aloeswood oil. Another set of notes come out to play. This might be very difficult (if not impossible) to replicate in a perfume. Possibly using synthetic molecules but not sure at all about using the naturals. Even smelling the best aloeswood/oud oils is nothing like heating up a piece of good Kyara. The same goes for sandalwood, it is rare to find good quality sandalwood for less then $100/oz, never mind the cost of high grade oils.Even if you perfume were 50% sandalwood in no way would it smell the same as, say, Daihatsu’s Sliced Sandalwood on an incense heater.

It occurred to me when looking at this that burning incense seems to compress the time between scent notes that most perfumes are built around,  in other words, the length of time between the top, middle and base notes is delivered all at once. Also incense seems to favor the base notes more. The tops and middles tend to mix together with the bases, there is quite a lot going on at one time when an incense stick is burning, while an incense heater can tend to stretch out and slow up the delivery.

Many of the standard citrus top notes would get lost or simply not work well in the incense medium, the same being true for many of the floral’s. They can get lost very fast (having just watched a seemingly large amount of Rose EO somehow vanish in an incense mix I made). Of course the smoke aspect of incense plays a huge roll also, even in the smoke-less styles available now, there is still some and that effects how you are going to accept the scent.

None of this is to knock one or the other, I like both! It’s just a few thoughts that have been passing through of late. Thanks for the input Christian! – Ross

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Pure Incense / Absolute / Black Sandalwood, Sandalwood and Lavender, Sandalwood and Rose, Patchouli, Patchouli and Rose

February 7, 2011 at 2:36 pm (India, Lavender, Mike, Patchouli, Pure-Incense, Rose, Sandalwood)

This is the sixth installment of the Pure Incense range, for previous reviews please refer to the Pure Incense link on the left (categorized under Indian incenses). In this installment I’m going to cover a small handful of sandalwood and patchouli incenses.

It’s probably worth reminding everyone that Pure Incense is an English company offering incenses made by the Madhavadas family which is also the source for Primo incense. There’s definitely some overlap between the two companies, so it’s a good idea to check what you have first. However, not only does Primo not offer the hybrids Pure Incense does, but Primo seems to stick to the inexpensive, so you’re far more likely to find quality incense via the Pure Incense route. But what all the Madhavadas incenses have in common is a sort of vanilla, charcoal and sandalwood base and in particular the former ingredient is quite noticeable in almost all of the line’s incenses, a trait that doesn’t always work out.

Black Sandalwood presents an alternative to the line’s regular Sandalwood, which can be found in both Connoisseur and Absolute ranges, however this variant is only found in the latter. The differences between this and the Absolute Sandalwood, however, are far more subtle than noteworthy. Like with the other sandalwood, the vanilla aspect of the base comes through quite strongly and changes the contour of the wood. The level of oil seems more matched by other elements that aren’t part of the Absolute Sandalwood, with a touch of mellow spice in the mix that tends to give the Black Sandalwood more breadth where perhaps the Absolute Sandalwood had more depth. Be sure you love the Absolute Sandalwood a lot before grabbing this one as the two incenses are very close.

While the fresh Sandalwood and Lavender stick allows one to sense both the sandalwood and lavender oils in the mix separately, like with many other Pure Incense “duos,” the two ingredients merge into something more hybrid-like while burning, and in this case the results are quite spectacular. For one thing, while you can smell the lavender oil on the fresh stick, the oil itself is more submerged in the burn allowing the lavender’s best aspects to rise to the top. It also helps to keep the ubiquitous vanilla scent a bit lower in the mix. The play of elements on top is particularly fascinating as the merging strengthens its floral characteristics. This is a good example of a scent being much more than a sum of its parts.

While the previous two scents are masala types, Sandalwood and Rose is a definite black charcoal-based stick, which is a style I’ll probably never fully embrace as the charcoal subscents always get in the way due to the sheer amount of smoke produced. While the oils are quite good, the vanilla is probably a bit too strong to work well and thus there seems to be as much charcoal and vanilla scent as there is the rose oil and a vague sense of sandalwood in the background. I expect the shelf life, like other charcoals, isn’t high and I’m wondering if the sample I was provided had already lost some of its power. Needless to say be sure you like strong charcoal scents before taking a chance on this.

Pure Incense’s Absolute Patchouli is quite a bit different from the Primo version although it’s similar in its green color. The oils are much richer on this one and in many ways this actually removes the scent from the more typical patchouli scent in the Primo. There’s a bit of lime hint in the mix (slightly similar to the Vrindavan Flower) that mixes with a soft almost uncharacteristic patchouli oil and the base’s usual vanilla and sandalwood mix. It all makes for a pleasant and unique patchouli variation.

The Absolute Patchouli stick can be detected almost as a subscent in the Patchouli and Rose and although the rose oil is strong, it mixes in quite nicely with the previously mentioned lime note. As with several of the (non-charcoal) hybrids, the blend of the two ingredients creates something new as a result. The oil mix does remind me of furniture polish to some extent, due to the rose somehow increasing the citrus-like qualities of the patchouli variation, but don’t take that to mean this isn’t a friendly incense. Like the Absolute Patchouli this is quite unique and it makes you wonder what other combinations would work well with the company’s patchouli.

This installment is not the final one in this series, but is the last of the samples I have at present and I’d like to thank both Pure Incense and Essence of the Ages for providing me with enough samples to be able to review the line. Since I received them, there have been several new additions to the line including Frankincense and Rose, Night Queen, Rhus Khus, Rose and Lavender, and Yellow Rose, so I hope to eventually get to try those out in the future.

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Pure Incense / Absolute / Cedarwood, Cedarwood & Lavender, Cedarwood & Rose, Cedarwood & Sandalwood, Saffron, Vanilla

October 20, 2010 at 1:07 pm (Cedar, India, Lavender, Mike, Pure-Incense, Rose, Saffron, Sandalwood, Vanilla)

This is the fifth installment of the large Pure Incense catalog and as it has been a while since the last one, I’d suggest clicking on the Pure Incense tag on the left to see the others as this is a mighty fine series of incenses with a diversity that probably won’t be self evident just from this particular subsection. Here I’ll be discussing several cedarwood blends, the Absolute Sandalwood and what perhaps could be considered the line’s most basic incense in the Absolute Vanilla. You may have guessed that these are all part of the line’s standard series, although in the case of many of these incenses they are the highest quality versions of their particular aroma.

As the Madhavadas family is the source of these incenses, it’s no surprise that their Absolute Cedarwood is more or less the exact same incense you’ll find in many lines such as Primo and Triloka, if not very similar to those from Incense from India and Mystic Temple. It’s a sweet and perfumed cedar, perhaps even more obviously so after trying Shroff’s most recent version, which is completely different. I’ve always had a fondness for this scent and consider it unique in comparison to other cedarwood scents, which often have little depth and are closer to, say, pencils than aromatic wood. No doubt this is due to an oil, but I’d guess its sweetness is also due to the line’s ubiquitous vanilla-enhanced base. I’d consider this the place to start before moving on to the hybrids as you’ll then be able to see how brilliantly a second ingredient tends to transmute the cedar aroma.

The first hybrid is the Absolute Cedarwood & Lavender whose added lavender perfume changes the entire contour of the cedarwood and as a result ends up in a very different lavender as well. The overall scent has definitely changed to the floral and just as the charcoal, vanilla and sandalwood base changes based on what is being laid over, the cedarwood also seems to go chameleon. It’s not even a combination I probably would have thought of and the result is something almost entirely new with neither main ingredient resembling what they do on their own. In fact you’d think this might be sweeter than it is, but it almost seems like those elements are cancelled out in the new equation.

The stick is a bit darker with the Absolute Cedarwood & Rose perhaps implying an adjustment of some sort to the base. To my nose the oil Madhavadas used on this stick strikes me as being a bit more “authentic” than the lavender and thus find this a very successful incense, the combination bringing out the darker and more mysterious aspects of both ingredients. It adds up to one of the more heavier rose incenses, but unlike many that are rough, this one has a pleasant roundedness. When I originally tried it as a sample, I ended up ordered a full 50g package. It’s only weakness is a slight ammoniac presence common to the occasional perfumed Indian stick.

Perhaps a more obvious pairing is the Absolute Cedarwood & Sandalwood and it’s probably not a surprise that the aroma is tilted more in the favor of the former ingredients and much closer to the base than the previous two mixes. The sandalwood does help to make this a much drier incense and as such it will be seen as an improvement for those whose tastes lie that way. It actually ends up with some rather unique combo notes, with the sandal presence taking the place of the cedar oil on the very top. There even seems to be a little patchouli in the mix, although I’m not sure if this is due to the combo or not. It’s actually quite an unpredictable scent in some ways.

Like the Cedarwood, I find the Absolute Saffron to be a fairly prevalent scent in Indian incense, although I’m not sure they’re all exactly the same given the possibility of diversity in such a scent. This version may not have the classic saffron scent per se, in fact it reminds me more of what I’ve occasionally seen classed as a saffron sandalwood, and that may very well be part of the base playing here. It’s an extremely dry incense, with a bit of spice in the middle as well as the usual vanilla subscent so common to this line of incenses. And there are even hints of some resins in the mix, or at least that’s what I’d guess is giving the incense its intensity and pungency. Quite nice and somewhat complex as well.

For those who have sampled many Pure Incense incenses, the Absolute Vanilla will probably strike you as the very base of the style, in that it really IS the Madhavadas Vanilla. For one thing, it’s relatively less powerful, as if the other oils have been subtracted. On the other hand it’s almost as if you can pick out the vanilla in most of the other incenses before you can with this one, where it’s very dry, as if the rest of the base is less disguised, such as the charcoal and sandalwood. Personally I find vanilla a rough thing in incense (perhaps my favorites are the Shroff Vanilla and Vanilla Balsam, neither of which is particularly comparable here), very difficult to get right and I’m not sure this one is particularly close, unless you have the predeliction for drier masalas.

Next installment will cover some patchouli and sandalwood variations and hybrids and beyond that I think there are a few newer scents I’ve not managed to try out yet, so still more to come.

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