The Mother's India Fragrances Shanti Nag Champa

Mother's Fragrances was established in 1975 in South India by Westerners to make and sell traditional masala incense to Western markets.  They are imported into the UK by Greater Goods. I acquired this sampler of the India Fragrances range, which is headier and more intense than the regular Mother's Fragrances range, a little while ago. As with a number of masala incense makers, there is a potency that I find a little too strong, which I associate with halmaddi, a tree resin used as a binder and fixative in traditional Indian incense. It pricks at the soft palate at the back of my mouth. I burned one stick when I got the sampler, then put it to one side. I do like the aroma, it is sweet, heady, with pangs of sandalwood, and sharp-sweet notes of balsamic vinegar, and it is sensual and refined. But I find it more of an incense to be used when I am not in the same room so I can appreciate the way it has left a lingering church incense aroma.

There's a pleasant cedar wood spice on the stick - reminds me of pencil wood shavings at school. This is supported by pepper, and honey, and hints of balsamic vinegar. Quite pleasant, but not thrilling. When burning, the smoke is fairly harsh and dry. Indeed, I found it too harsh and irritating and it caught unpleasantly in my throat causing me to cough, and it stung my eyes. Interestingly I had a similar eye stinging response to the Aargee Imperial Bharat Mata, which is also made from halmaddi. The company do say that this range is a little strong for Western tastes, and they have a milder range, the Mother's Fragrances, which are designed for domestic use.

The aroma on burning is sandalwood and nag champa, with touches of lotus, nutmeg and cinnamon. While the smoke itself is dry and harsh, the base aroma  is earthy and damp, rising through rough and ragged mid-tones, to the dry, peppery high notes of wood and spice. The experience is just a little too intense for me - I have a headache, my eyes and nose sting, and the back of my throat is sore, and I keep coughing. The aroma is pleasant and interesting, but not worth the side-effects. I will see how I get on with the other aromas in the series, and I will return to the second sample a little later, but for now I am thinking that I may be more suited to the Western blends. I will note that positive reviews I read do stress the soft nature of the incense paste on the stick, and my sticks, though well sealed in plastic bags (which are a little difficult to get into), are quite hard - probably the hardest and most brittle masala sticks I've encountered. You'd think this was a perfume dipped stick from looking at them. The charcoal base is showing through on a thin coating of dull beige masala powder that clings firmly to the stick, and is very difficult to scratch off. Perhaps I have got a dried out batch?

Would I buy this one again? I very much doubt it. It's too heavy going for me personally. I am developing a headache, even though I have placed the stick on the other side of the room, and after ten minutes have had to remove the incense from the room altogether. I will try the rest of the India Fragrances range, but I feel I am more suited to the milder more Western orientated Mother's Fragrances range and will give those a try.

Date: May 2015   Score: 32

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The Mother's India Fragrances

Nag Champa