When I first started jumping into Tibetan Monastery incenses in the mid to late 00s, it was incenses like the two Holy Lands, the original Highland and a few others I’ve forgotten that really got my attention because of what has become known as “barnyard” sorts of notes, or in other words musks of unknown but either animalic origins or the creators are doing a good enough job making it seem that way from plants. They are generally called barnyard as they recall the scents of being near various animals, and of course you might imagine this won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but there’s a certain segment of the incense population that really goes for scents like this. One of the reasons the sources are hard to call is that musks tend to have a really strong and powerful stamp on the environment depending on how much they are used and incenses like these may come close to that, but they are usually somewhere in the middle. Incenses like this are still relatively uncommon now but it was to great surprise and delight that the Khanon Monastery Incense showed up at incense-traditions.ca as it’s a beautiful example of such a thing. Listed ingredients include white and red sandalwood, clove, haritaki (myrobalan), amomum tsaoko (black cardamom), and agarwood.
The musk on this is really wonderful, largely because it melds with just as high a spice mix. Incenses like these are often among my very favorites, they are poweful rich and multi-faceted at the get go, and perhaps more importantly they are tremendously addictive. I am pretty sure I burned through at least seven or eight sticks of this before I even started to think about the review. The mix of the clove, myrobalan and black cardamon really give this a unique profile as well, I’m so used to cinnamon in the mix of spices that when it’s not there this profile can be quite a bit different. It’s a little bit more clove and black pepper than something you’d be used to in a confectionary. But of course with the sandalwood and agarwood in here there is plenty of woodiness although it is perhaps tertiary to the musk and spice. It also feels like there are some oils in this of some provenance as the aroma is quite intense. And in case it’s not clear all of these things work to a really unified whole as well – I tend to find incenses that have this unity as well as a lot of complexity are almost always the most fascinating and carefully crafted. So yes if you have a Tibetan monastery shopping list, this one’s going to go near the top, I ordered a back up roll really quickly as I tend to mow through rolls of things like this. It’ll show up on the Tibetan Hall of Fame as soon as I get around to updating it.
Olfactory Rescue Service 
Lollygag said,
March 27, 2024 at 2:03 pm
The way you describe scent is always highly picturesque and evocative, and once again you make an incense sound irresistible! I remember when, in the perfume world, “Dzing!” by L’Artisan Parfumeur made its appearance. This was at a time of high-concept fragrances, and this one was described as evoking a circus, which included leather, sawdust, and a strong whiff of the barnyard. People either loved or hated it. Those musky/barnyard/indolic notes can certainly get funky, but IMO they can also add immense depth and earthiness to a formulation that might otherwise seem thin. Which is a long way of saying that I don’t fear the barnyard, and as Khanon’s list of ingredients is so intriguing, this is absolutely going on my to-order list. Thank you for highlighting yet another new (and clearly memorable) Tibetan incense!
Mike said,
March 27, 2024 at 2:12 pm
This one is particularly good at its price as well. Hope you enjoy!