Shroff Channabasappa / Natural (Charcoals) / Sandal, Agar Wood, Amir, Shamama Gold, Herbal

January 4, 2010 at 10:13 am (Incense, India, Shroff Channabasappa)

Shroff Channabasappa Part 1
Shroff Channabasappa Part 2
Shroff Channabasappa Part 3
Shroff Channabasappa Part 4
Shroff Channabasappa Part 5
Shroff Channabasappa Part 6

The latest group of Shroff incenses to reach Essence of the Ages has raised a question or two in my mind, the most urgent of which is the subline or classification scheme being used. As a tool to identify the types of incenses one likes, the newest sublines seem to have confused the issue a bit. First, we have two wet masalas, fair enough, although both strike me as similar enough to the semidrys (the Saffron is wet, but likely due to the oils). Second we have a group of 9 incenses under the Natural subline, however these appear to be two different groups, 5 charcoal incenses, and 4 wood based herbals. The most expensive of these incenses are in the former group. Finally we have a batch of seven incenses pinned to the end of the Dry Masala line, what was originally a group of mixed charcoals with oils, however the entire new group is nothing like these featuring incenses that could have been in the Dry Masala group. I’m not sure why the current delineation, but certainly my order would have a little different had there been more clarity.

However, wherever these incenses belong, they are from Shroff and are yet another installment showing more facets from this company in the creation of incense art. It’s really this natural group where the two newest styles lie, so I thought I’d tackle these first. And because the five charcoals in this group are not only the most expensive Shroff incenses ever exported, but they appear to be the highest end Indian incenses to ever come over here. And there appears to be one main reason for this, in all five of these charcoals are extremely expensive and high quality essential oils, some of them very rare indeed.

Over a decade ago Incense from India used to carry a small charcoal stick called White Sandalwood. At the time their incense packages were $1.50 and each package of White Sandalwood carried three small charcoal sticks dipped in a very fine sandalwood oils. This style is most definitely the precursor of the Shroff Sandal incense, however while I may have considered White Sandalwood expensive at the time, the new Shroff incense is nearly prohibitively expensive and may be the best example to demonstrate how rare and desired the wood has become in just a small period. Each 5g package is likely to have 5 sticks. They’re much larger than the previously mentioned White Sandalwood sticks and are dipped in a very fine sandalwood oil indeed. As all charcoals go, even ones with punks this clean, Sandal is a very smoky stick and at what amounts to about $30 a stick (per stick the most expensive incense on the US market, although not per inch), it most definitely packs a wallop and one is perhaps fortunate in that an inch of this is enough to fragrance a room. At first the sandalwood oil comes off with all the resinous middle you could ask for, but over time the scent turns out to be exquisite, showing that great sandalwood is as evervescent and multifaceted as a good aloeswood. One always gets the resin, crystalline qualities and gentle wood contour out of a sandalwood oil, however it’s uncommonly deep here, with a cooling menthol and lacquer like level, the imminence of freshly cut wood, the almost vapor-like qualities of the finest of evergreen trees and the depth of fine grain, whorl and pattern that evokes forgotten memories. In fact even now (and I’ll admit I haven’t even fininshed one stick of this even after four or five sessions) I still notice all sorts of deep and unique subscents coming off  this stick. In the end, what it does for me is wonder what the oil itself might be like without the charcoal as even by itself, even with this most inferior of bases, it’s a terrific scent, one that makes you wonder how good the original wood must have been.

I’d have called Shroff’s Agar Wood Oud, if it had been my choice as the oil upon charcoal mix most definitely presents agarwood in its most oud-like fashion and as such is so very different in style from not only all Japanese agarwoods, but the occasional Indian masala Agar Wood that we’ve seen from, say, Pure Incense or Mystic Temple. Like the Sandal, this Agar Wood is headily potent and very smoky, in fact among the charcoals in this group this is by far the most powerful and intense incense. It’s also superlative, featuring an oud oil of incredible quality, a scent that has so many levels that it’s really hard to check them off. Kaleidoscopic as it burns, the Agar Wood is a mix of resin, raisin, caramel, molasses, earth, sweet manure and the scents of harvest mixed in with that ancient quality only the best of the agarwoods have. Like some unearthly elixir, it etches the environment with scrawling tendrils, ethereal beauty and fecund darkness intertwined, dark, bubbling and volcanic, like a tar pit transmuted into golden aroma. I’d be surprised if it doesn’t send samplers looking for various oud oils as it’s surely impressive as many a Japanese agarwood, yet in a totally different and unique way. Truly one of the most complex incenses out there and at approximately $6 a stick, it’s more accessible in price than the Sandal is.

The price drops substantially when we get into the last three incenses, all of which are essential oil blends. The first of these is called Amir and we’re given the ingredients of olibanum, oakmoss and citrus essential oils as a starting list. It should be mentioned that while the Sandal and Agar Wood oils are obviously among the highest quality in oils, I think the same can be safely said for the mixes going in these other three, that is, the different between these, and, say, Maroma charcoals is just vast. The mix has an almost medicinal strength to it. Olibanum is often confused with frankincense, despite it being a slightly different resin, here that difference is made obvious with a unique resinous tone I’d suspect one doesn’t come across as often as one would want. The oakmoss gives it a very pleasant, earthy, herbal element and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if a touch of the aforementioned oud oil plays a part in here, otherwise it would be difficult to guess what gives the base of this scent its strength – certainly something voluptuous is anchoring it all. At the top end lies the citrus elements, intensifying the olibanum scents to a very nice, refreshing note. As a whole, this sort of exemplifies all of these blends in that they reach across a spectrum of different notes, ones you might think clash but actually work together beautifully as a whole. The play of deep and bright is strangely complex, cooling and easy going while not shallow at all. It’s so much better than most charcoal oil mixes it might as well be in a different category.

Shamama Gold lists cyprus, galangal and kapoor kacheri rose and like the Amir it also juxtaposes different elements to a brilliant effect with more subnotes than you’d expect from just those three ingredients (and like the Amir the slightly-molasses like tint in the background makes one wonder if there’s a tint of the oud oil at the bottom end). First of all this is a really gorgeous and unique rose scent playing over the top, certainly one with enough of its own independent qualities to make it worth seeking out on its own. The middle and bottom are much more mysterious, the galangal at a potent root strength I’ve never quite witnessed before, giving the middle a lovely herbal tang. It’s an incense of the greatest intricacy, every stick revealing more and more subnotes as if it couldn’t possibly have less than 15 or 20 subscents to it, a real work of art that shows floral, fruity, herbal and sugar sweet qualities all combining and interacting fluidly. Like all the charcoals here, it’s like some sweet mystic liqueur, so potent even 1/3 or 1/2 of a stick is enough for a room. Of the three blends, this is perhaps the one to start with.

Herbal may be the odd incense out in this pentad, it’s at least by far the quitest and most subtle, both less intense and less smoky than the rest. While I find the charcoal base in all of these to be very quiet considering the style, if it interacts as a note of its own in any of them would be this one. The description of the scent marks resins as the primary note and while I do seem to evince hints of, perhaps, guggal gum or myrrh in the mix, what I notice most are herbal and grassy qualities, scents that remind me quite a bit of Fred Soll’s Happy Hemp blend. Also mixed in are a bit of a burnt sort of smell (perhaps the charcoal here?) along with a slight lemongrass tint and a bit of wood oil . Unfortunately it doesn’t strike me as quite as impressive or overwhelming as the rest of these charcoals, but given Shroff’s success at making you take your opinion back with further use, I’m hesitant to deny a possible complexity and sublimity that might arise with time.

So we’ve seen Shroff take on masalas, durbars, charcoal mixes and other styles and they manage to take on a few pure charcoals quite adroitly as you’d expect. But do be warned, these are very smoky and potent scents, with as good essential oils as you might ever find in the style, but given the prices I’d be sure you’re willing to tackle the head on intensity of these first otherwise you might end up tackling some disappointment. That is, they may come with Japanese prices, but they don’t come with the restraint of that style.