Incense from Ross

May 21, 2012 at 5:01 pm (Aloeswood, Ambergris, Musk, Ross, Sandalwood)

I have a batch of Ocean of Night that has matured and is very strong $40/15 grams. Also a fresh batch of Sandalwood and Ambergris(a nice yellow grey ambergris as well as some darker, plus a bit of spice) $40/5 grams. I also have about 10 grams of “Souk’ed Agarwood” (quality agarwood and solid ambergris soaked in musk and ambergris tincture) at $50/5 grams. Shipping runs around $10 within the USA.

I tend to spray on a last blast of tincture just before shipment so do let it dry out a bit before putting it on the heater or charcoal because my tinctures use 200 proof alcohol and it could get more exciting then you wanted on charcoal!

If interested you can email me at “clairsight at yahoo” thanks -Ross

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Gyokushodo: Hana no Sho (Bloom), Mori no Sho (Woodland), Nami no Sho (Wave)

March 9, 2012 at 10:05 pm (Aloeswood, Ambergris, Benzoin, Borneol/Camphor, Gyokushodo, Kyara, Musk, Ross, Sandalwood, Spikenard)

I first got to try these over a year ago, when they were brought to me by a friend in Japan, and like a number of readers that I have noticed in the blog I was very curious about them. This was just before Japan Incense had brought in so many of the other offerings from Gyokushodo. Then, as now, I was impressed with the ingredients  it was also the first time I had even seen ambergris mentioned as an ingredient. These are made with very traditional materials and the ingredient list seems pretty simple, which means the quality of the materials has to be pretty good in order to work. There are six different blends in this series and Part One will look at three with Part Two finishing it off next week sometime. I had a friend translate the ingredient list from their catalog for me and decided to put that in also as it is so very rare to get something like this from any Japanese incense maker. These are available from Japan Incense/Kohshi.

Hana no Sho (Bloom): This one has a very up front sandalwood oil presence to it. It really stands out and comes across very differently from other Japanese sandalwood based sticks. It has a very “full” quality to it as the oil plus the woods really fill out all the corners and produce their own top, middle and base notes. If you like sandalwood it would be hard not to own this. This would also appeal to someone who is used to the Indian style and wants to sample Japanese incense.

[Ingredients] Tabu bark powder, activated carbon powder, Sandalwood, Jinsui Koboku (jinko,) Sandalwood oil,

Mori no Sho (Woodland): Very woody and spicy, a sort of classic Japanese grouping of incense materials. It is also extremely balanced. Just when you think its cinnamon, it might just be clove, but wait, that could be borneol, then there are woods but it is all done so well that they just keep mixing. This would be pretty fun as meditation incense, assuming it didn’t end up making you completely analytical.

[Ingredients] Tabu [Machilus thunbergii] bark powder, activated carbon powder, Jinsui Koboku (jinko,) Cinnamon, Cloves, Benzoin, Borneol,

Nami no Sho (Wave): This particular incense has caused me to spend quite a lot of money on ambergris. I was so taken with the smell, which was just different enough to really catch my attention, that I decided I wanted to use ambergris in my own incense. So I started to and my wallet has been in shock ever since. There is a sort of, but not quite, musky quality to this stick, but there is also a very subtle, very clean, marine background note that goes along with it. Plus ambergris has the somewhat unique ability to increase other scents in the mix(one of the reasons it was and still is so popular in perfume).This is also a really balanced blend with the different players sort of briefly stepping up to the front of the stage and into the lime light. This is a very beautiful, somewhat masculine in nature, scent with woods in the background while the spices and ambergris move through the top notes.

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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.

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Keigado: Keiga Byakudan (Sandalwood)

February 1, 2012 at 10:02 pm (Keigado, Ross, Sandalwood)

Keigado has a very large assortment of scents like Purple Magnolia, the East & West Temple sticks and Full Moon, to name just a few. They use Sandalwood a lot, although it is usually a medium for other scents to be carried along with. This particular stick has the Sandalwood up front and I think it’s a winner. It is a “straight up” style, with few if any additions. If there are any they are in there to help elevate the sandalwood scent itself. There is a very slight sweetness, pretty much what you would expect from burning a piece of sandalwood from the heartwood of a sandalwood tree, in other words it is true to the natural scent. It also has great hang time; the scent stays within the room for quite a while (not hours like a synthetic would, but a decent amount of time).

If you are looking for or simply enjoy sandalwood based incense you might want to give this one a try. It is different enough from, say, Shunkodoh’s Sarasoju or Yamada Matsu’s short stick to be worth a look. It is also at a very good price for what you are getting.

-Ross

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Shunkohdo leaf cut Sandalwood:

December 18, 2011 at 12:49 am (Ross, Sandalwood, Shunkodo)

Kohshi, at their retail San Francisco store, has gotten in leaf cut Sandalwood from Shunkohdo. These are about one millimeter thick “slabs” that are roughly 3” x  3” in size, all cut from the same piece of wood. It is a beautiful presentation and has a nice medium reddish color. The scent is pure Sandalwood with a very slight hint of cinnamon after it’s been heated up for awhile. I would recommend an electric incense heater or non direct heating to the side of a coal.

I also noticed when I was there last weekend that they had a pretty good assortment of Kyukyodo (lot of the really good high end line, not to be missed).

You might also check out the selection from Kousaido. I have three that I am writing up for review, they use  what would seem to be a mixture woods and oils to produce some great scents at very good prices, just the thing for Christmas.

Enjoy  -Ross

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Lamb’s Breath Incense by Aluwwah

December 18, 2011 at 12:40 am (Amber, Ambergris, Incense, Ingredients/Styles, Kasturi, Marian, Musk, Sandalwood, Uncategorized, Vanilla)
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When I think of lambs I think of sweet, gentle, soft, unhurried animals with fleecy white coats, kind, dark eyes and moist, glistening noses. They are small yet sturdy, soft and tractable, fluffy yet compact and very content and sociable. Aluwwah’s Lamb’s Breath incense has many of the same traits. It’s sweet and warm and makes me want to bury my nose in it’s deep, floeuve-y fuzziness. It exudes a moist thickness that feels very embracing and cuddly, and a strong ambery goldeness makes it smell as though it glows. The thing that gets me most, though, is that it’s an unusual blend- I’ve never smelled anything quite like it. It’s sweet without being cloying, resinous without being sticky and spicy without being sharp. It’s a balanced blend of florals, woods, earth and spices- one in which each note retains it’s unique identity yet the blend is far more than a sum of its ingredients.
Smelling this comfy blend makes me feel very relaxed so I’m going to guess it contains a high grade of sandalwood; vanilla may account for a portion of its sweetness; a downy, powdery fluffiness could be musk, and a sweet, dry spiciness, (patchouli?), makes the herbal aspect seem alive and vital. I smell an almost mineral, metallic zinginess that’s so shimmery it’s fizzy. A rich moistness and licorice-y succulence make me think of toffee-colored tobacco leaves that are juicy and squeezable, and an elusive floral delicacy brings to mind a newly-formed blossom opening its first, pristine petals . The earthy scent of henna completes the composition and a cedar-like dryness prevents it from ever becoming overpowering or heavy.
Aluwaah’s Lamb’s Breath would be a lovely compliment to a bowl filled with pomanders, or an arrangement of pine boughs and bayberries. Grab a glass of mulled wine, flock around the hearth and light up some Lamb’s Breath to usher in the New Year! May each of you have a Happy and Dream-fulfilling 2012, replete with much joy, love, beauty, hope and, of course, many intoxicating moments adrift in your favorite incenses and perfumes!

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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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Shambala Incense

September 29, 2011 at 7:13 am (Evergreen/Forest, Incense, Juniper, Mike, Nepal, Sandalwood)

Not sure who dreamed Shambala Incense up, but this is a very vibrant Nepali-style Tibetan with a high ratio of good quality ingredients to base. There seems to be some juniper berry content as well as sandalwood, which puts this in very traditional red stick territory, however the good ingredients give this some interesting subnotes including one foresty and another slightly resinous. For this style, this isn’t a bad place to start at all, it’s very smooth and comes in two sizes.

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Mystic Temple / Agarwood, Cedarwood, Chandan Champa, Frankincense, Patchouli Champa

September 28, 2011 at 10:44 am (Aloeswood, Champa, Frankincense, Incense, India, Mike, Mystic Temple, Patchouli, Sandalwood)

The first time I tried Mystic Temple Cedarwood was just after purchasing some at a store of Haight Ashbury in the 90s. At the time this line was by far the best incense I’d ever gotten to try and I spent months doing my best to stock up on all the great scents they had. But like all great incense companies, the change in ingredients meant that all the recipes slowly drifted and changed until a great deal of the Mystic Temple line is more on the same level as, say, the Nitiraj Aromatherapy incenses. Of course Mystic Temple’s line is much larger so there are still plenty of really great incenses to check out, but I’m always hesitant in reviewing them because I feel like the recipes could have changed since my batch. This sampling of five incenses really only relates to what I still have and haven’t reviewed yet.

Agarwood is a comparatively newer scent, and it’s so close in aroma to the Pure Incense Absolute Agarwood that one might assume the Mystic Temple is also Madhavadas family sourced. In fact it’s so exact, I’ll just refer you to that review. I’d only add the caveat that it might not be quite at the Absolute level (some of those faint and neat camphorish touches aren’t in this one), but it’s still quite close.

The Cedarwood of a decade or so ago was a green stick, the current version is brown. Where the old version had a bewitching, sweet and Himalayan cedarwood oil, much higher quality than any current cedarwood I could mention, this version is dull, more in the pencil wood direction, and rough, like it has a lot of cheap benzoin in it. In fact it’s almost more loban-like than cedar-like. It’s not unpleasant but if you want this style check out Pure-Incense in this case.

The Chandan Champa really surprised me upon revisiting it, my previous impression was that it was fairly generic. It has a superb sandalwood oil on top and it makes the incense. It had the crystally high end scent of old mountain wood on top of a basic champa aroma and it works nicely. Curious to see if this is the same as it has been a while since I bought this (and it’s aged really nicely, something I can say for several MT incenses). Anyway this is well worth investing in, in fact I can’t think of another sandalwood heavy champa with so true an oil. But beware, as times have changed.

Mystic Temple’s Frankincense is the standard Indian frankincense masala, also possibly Madhavadas sources. So this review is still close enough to be true. It has the usual cocoa/chocolate notes this type of masala usually exhibits and a frankincense that’s nice but not quite like the resin itself. Anyway this is virtually interchangeable with Triloka, the Pure Incense and others I’m not remembering at the moment.

The Patchouli Champa used to be a very distinctive champa but for some reason it also has been switched out with a lesser incense in the last decade or so. The scent used to have a really strong patchouli component with a slightly burned-like tinge to it. Here it seems missing or fading and it exhibits that almost crayon-like scent some synthetic champa incenses have. There even seems to be little in the way of patchouli in it at all, unless they were going for a lighter scent. Unfortunately there’s something off about this one now, the smoke seems astringent, as if synthetic elements are at work, and the aroma has little personality.

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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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