November Top Ten

November 29, 2010 at 11:06 pm (Agarwood / Aloeswood / Eaglewood, Amber, Author, Baieido, Daihatsu, Floral, Incense Top 10 Lists, Kyara, Kyukyodo, Mermade Magickal Arts, Musk, Nippon Kodo, Palo Santo, Ross, Seijudo, Shunkohdo)

Welcome to the November Top Ten. As is usually the case for me these are not necessarily laid out in any kind of  “order of wonderfulness”! I like to use many different styles and types of incense so getting it down to ten is an interesting endeavor and something of a difficult task. I would also like to mention we try and hold these to ten selections so if you current favorite is not listed, remain calm and perhaps light another stick 🙂

Next months Top Ten will turn into our “end of the year, completely over the top, blow out list” which we hope to get up by mid December. We are holed up in the secret ORS testing lab wildly waving sticks at each other to back up our various favorites. It’s getting a little smoky in here and I hope the extra fire extinguishers show up soon.

You can find all the incenses listed below in past reviews at ORS unless I have added a link as they are too new to have a review. Enjoy  -Ross

Baieido’s: Rikkoku Aloeswood Set: Quite simply put this is a work of natural art. It comes in a wonderful presentation box that is stunning all by itself. All the woods are great and at the same time very different. The Kyara is mind bending, but then again, in their own way, so are the others. There is a lot of study potential here. Used in the recommended manner this set will last one for quite awhile. You can also sometimes find this in the “mini” size.

Baieido’s Kokonoe: This is one of my “go to” wood scents. I find it very enjoyable and the cost makes it pretty easy to use. It has a clean aloeswood scent and does a great job of showcasing the Indonesian wood. Its also a good place to start looking at specific examples of regional scents within aloeswood as any extra spices or resins in these sticks is there to highlight the wood.

Nippon Kodo’s: Gokuhin Kyara Taikan: This is the second rung up in NK’s high end Kyara ladder. It features a more distinct wood note as well as more refinement in the top notes then Tokusen Kyara Taikan. It is a very elegant incense and quite potent at the same time. There is a sort of resin/floral/powder feel in the overall scent that is a wonderful counterpart to the wood notes. It’s only draw back is that it makes you start wondering how you can afford to get the next one up, which is much more money.

Kyukyodo’s: Sho ran Koh: This one is on our Top Tens a lot and with good reason. It is a very beautiful scent, an elegant floral that is not overdone and has some quality Aloeswoods backing it all up. Not to mention the roll is very large, just opening the box is a huge treat. Koh Shi in San Francisco tries to have this in stock.

Seijudo’s: Kyara Horen: Seijudo decided to create the best Kyara blends that they could for as long as they can get the materials to do so. The top three in the line up actually use Kyara in their blends while the other 4 have very similar notes but use aloeswood. Sometimes the differences seem very subtle. This one is the third from the top. I find it the easiest to get along with, it has tons of Kyara notes mixed in with spices and maybe a hint of musk. It is refined and elegant, but still friendly. It’s also something to be burned first and savored. There is quite a lot going on here and you will get the most out of it this way.  Not inexpensive but a real treasure as well as a treat for the soul.

Mermade’s Scared Grove: Lighting this will almost instantly surround you in the scent of a very large forest. It is very clean and for this time of the year I find it a great way to sort of “open up” the room it’s burning in. High quality and natural ingredients play a big part in Mermade’s success. I notice that there is a bunch of new offerings listed on their site right now.

Daihatsu’s Kaizan: Not only does this has a very nice amber note but the story I was told is that it was formulated by Daihatsu’s Ko Shi ( Fragrance Master) to mimic the scent that geishas used in their hair. Nice scent and a great price. A strong and long lasting aroma that can easily fill a room. Just the thing for all us amber fans.

Shunkohdo’s Houshou: A quality aloeswood at a very reasonable price. It has subtle top notes of chocolate that play with the aloeswood. Quite a beautiful combination and at the price($20) is a great deal not to be missed. Great gift for the incense people in you life.

Incensio’s Palo Santo Wand: If you like Palo Santo then you will be in heaven. The incense look’s sort of like thin cigars on a stick. They are packed with a wonderful and very woody scent that is particular to Palo Santo. These are available at Mermade and a full review of the line is in the works. By the way, using just a portion of a stick will do the trick; these people did not mess around when they put the woods in! Very interesting and at a good price.

Blue Star’s: Lavender: This is from a small producer in Canada (I can hear Anne getting excited). He uses all natural ingredients and the sticks are done in a sort of Tibetan Japanese fusion style, so they are thick and go for around 30-40 minutes. This one stands out for me as it has a nice light wood base note overlaid with a very clean and clear Lavender scent. Just a tiny bit sweet and really beautiful. Lavender Essential Oil is used and then the stick is rolled in Lavender flowers. This one is a winner and a review of the lineup is coming soon. Not to be missed and you get 10 sticks for around $4.00

10 Comments

Shroff Channabasappa / Night Queen, Palace Durbar, Parivar, Sandal (K/SPL), Sandal King, Simple Flower, Vanilla Balsam

November 19, 2010 at 11:35 am (Balsam, Floral, Mike, Sandalwood, Shroff Channabasappa, Vanilla)

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

For some reason this batch of incenses, which would all fit nicely under the Dry Masala heading, has been classified with the Masala Base group of which I’ve already covered the rest in part 10. I’m not sure why this is the case as none of these are the same type of hybrid charcoal floral scents discussed last time. What we do have is a couple of sandalwoods, two florals and a few other fairly unique scents.

Night Queen is one of the florals and until this Shroff version I had trouble with nearly every Night Queen I’ve tried, after all this sort of night blooming jasmine is probably not something easy to capture naturally without great expense and the results are usually cloying charcoal perfumes. It definitely helps that this is more masala than charcoal, as the scent ends up being a lot softer. It’s sweet, slightly powdery, feminine, exotic and most importantly the perfume is well measured. The aroma is definitely carried by the oils for the most part, but at least there’s no harsh competitive base for it to get lost in.

Like the Parrot Green Durbar or one or two other Shroffs, the Palace Durbar has a bit of an ammoniac character which is something particularly prevalent with a lot of aromatic fatigue and it’s a weird note to have in what’s a sort of semi-sweet, fruity and floral thick stick. It’s unusual for Shroff in that it’s not strikingly impressive, in fact like the other “durbars” (in Shroff’s case such a term is not synonomous with the champa) there’s an almost paint-like characteristic. Not everyone will like this, and even after some persistance (something that tends to open up most of the Shroff line), it remains somewhat generic. I’d recommend starting with the Green Durbar as it shares some similarities and has more character.

The Parivar is an exquisite incense with a bit of musk and a somewhat “paradise flower” like floral aroma on top that is sweet and powdery, crystalline, but also based in a certain wood scent with a touch of caramel thrown in. It’s somewhat similar in a soapier way to Vrindavan Flower in the Pure Incense line, although the citrus note is more lemon than lime. An incense quite close to the flora style in its intensity, perhaps the only issues (as intimated above) are some minor/occasional ammoniac sour and bitter scents. That is, at times I wonder if it’s maybe too much of a good thing.

The Sandal (K/SPL) might be considered a special in name but it seems more or less the standard Indian masala sandalwood. Unlike the Madhavadas sourced sandalwood incenses this doesn’t have the vanilla subnotes, nor perhaps the high quality/quantity of oils in the Connoisseur version, but it trades these qualities for a much drier scent. Nice, if not particularly arresting.

The Sandal King is more saturated than the previous incenses and not quite so pure an aroma. This is a bit of a wet scent, a bit pillowy and perhaps slightly watered down in terms of a sandalwood scent. The oils are quite present on top and at the base but lighter in the middle. It might be perfect for those who want their sandalwood incense slightly more remote in intensity.

The Simple Flower is an unusual quasi-floral scent with a strong perfume that tends to bely the gentle nature you’d want from a light floral. This is also a bit spicy and salty. If Shroff are known for getting florals right usually, this might be a miss, or at least there is a somewhat shallow and synthetic quality to this that doesn’t usually sit well for me (ammonia? alcohol?).

My favorite in this group is definitely the Vanilla Balsam which while it seems to describe a combination of two ingredients actually strikes me as balsamic with the vanilla notes accentuated (for example I find tolu balsam to already have something of a vanilla note). The beauty of this is incense is it’s airy and dry so there are really very few aspects of the scent to get in the way of what’s a very well balanced and not too sweet incense. There’s really no other incense in the catalog quite like it.

I’ll be reviewing the new Shroff scents probably early next year as this is a company who really hasn’t ever stopped creating (or recreating) new incenses, so a new batch arrives about the time I end up writing up the next batch. This will probably be my last non-list review for 2010, although we’re hoping to put together an end of year list in a few weeks.

13 Comments

Stupa / Spikenard, Dorjee Samba, Healing (Agar 31), Austa Suganda, Champabati

November 18, 2010 at 4:14 pm (Agarwood / Aloeswood / Eaglewood, Amber, Basil / Tulasi / Tulsi, Cardamom, Cedar, Champa / Durbar, Guggul, Mike, Nepal, Red Sandalwood, Saffron, Sandalwood, Spice (Cinnamon Clove Nutmeg etc.), Spikenard / Jatamansi, Stupa Incense Industry, Valerian / Sugandhabal)

Stupa Incense Industry creates a number of incenses under the hand of Lama Dorjee, several of which I’d count in the upper class of Nepali incenses, in that the quality ingredients in any of the scents is always of a high enough content to push past the bland. I’ve reviewed several of these in the past (which you can access by scrolling down this page). As I mentioned in one of the previous reviews (the Buddha set), there are a couple boxes that actually include more than one incense and there is one of those sets here as well.

Spikenard is a pretty rare scent to be found in Tibetan style catalogs, perhaps due to its cost. In Japanese incense kansho’s musky caramel sweetness is a pivotal player in high end incenses and in my opinion is often just as important in the bouquet as the woods. On the other end of the spectrum you have this rough and ready Stupa version which is actually quite impressive for its cost. Yes, there’s definitely a lot of base wood in this (Himalayan pencil cedar) incense, but it manages only to seat the general spikenard scent, which here has a bit of coppery or brassy vibe to it, and doesn’t have the refined sweetness you find in the Japanese incenses. Otherwise the muskiness and slight caramel aroma still manages to more or less get the aroma right. In the end this is a solid incense for the price and unlikely to duplicate what you might own.

The Dorjee Samba blend gets top billing by Lama Dorjee and consists of an impressive blend of saldhoop, kud, agar, holibasil, nutmeg, cardamom and other hebs and spices. Despite this list of ingredients the most notable part of this bouquet is a strong, green, pungent evergreen scent that has similarities to Bosen’s Pythoncidere as well as the high altitude campfire like scent you’d find with the Dhoop Factory’s Alpine. And as such this is an incense I like very much with the sort of tire-like elements you tend to find with heavier woods reduced to a reasonable amount. In fact I’d wager a guess that the balancing sweetness here is the saldhoop (often considered an amber). In a list of good Nepalis this is definitely one that would be high up the list for me.

If the Spikenard and Dorjee Samba are fairly unique Nepalis, the Stupa Healing Incense (Agar 31) is in a pretty common class of Tibetan incenses. Here there are three kinds of black aloeswood, various herbal flowers, cloves, saffron and red and white sandalwood listed as ingredients but like all Healing/Agar 31 incenses the result doesn’t evince so much complexity and is somewhat nondescript (that is, if you’re looking for the Tibetan equivalent of a Japanese aloeswood, this and any of its brethren come nowhere close). It’s even difficult to describe as a scent as it doesn’t have the same woody/campfire qualities of high juniper and cedar levels nor the subtleties usually found in incenses with aloeswood, sandalwood or saffron. Of course incenses like this one seem less designed with aroma in mind rather than the supposed healing properties they may or may not have, in fact this one claims it will alleviate flatulences. Duh, right?

The final two incenses here come in one box, with a roll of Lama Dorjee/Stupa Austa Suganda and another of Champabati. The former contains pencil cedar, valerian, holy basil, gum-guggul and sandalwood, along with, I’d assume, the key ingredient in the name. The result is a very tangy sort of Tibetan that has an aroma fairly close to the paper on many ropes and a bit like toasting marshmallows over a fire. It’s a fairly static scent and probably only likely to appeal to some. Overall I find it a bit plastic-like in this form and that almost every ingredient listed can’t be detected over the austa sugandha.

The Champabati definitely has a strong campfire/tire/rubber-like base, which is somewhat uncommon for a Stupa, it also does a fair job at imparting a champa-like aroma on top. Unfortunately the competition of such a gentle floral scent with all the strong woods doesn’t create a particularly memorable incense and I’m once again fairly convinced the champa scent doesn’t work particularly well in a Tibetan style incense. If you’re experiencing even a hint of aromatic fatigue this will come off probably more bitter than intended. Rare are the good Nepali florals…

Stupa has some other incenses in their catalog including sandalwood, juniper and jasmine, although I’ve foregone checking these out for fear of duplication. But I’d think eventually this would be one of the catalogs I’d revisit as I’m fairly confident that the quality will be high.

Leave a Comment