Revisiting this as a comparison to some very enjoyable bukhoor incenses I am burning at the moment. I still like this - it's candysweet, light and playful. Quite yummy, especially on the stick. And there is something quite comfortingly familiar about it. Nice.
Date: March 2017 Score: 38
Incense made in India to traditional masala methods for an Italian company, Fiore d’Oriente, founded in 1988. They have about 17 ranges - this is from the Angels range. It has a beautiful scent on the stick - musky, sweet, sophisticated. While it has an elemental earthy quality, damp lambs wool and morning mushrooms, there's also something modern and elegant. On burning I can detect there's a bit of halmaddi in the mix which gives the incense a bit of a sharp edge, but not so much as to overwhelm. I like this. It's soft, subtle and pleasant. I would like to order more Fiore d’Oriente incense, and explore the ranges, but I am hesitant at the prices. They sell for around £6 a pack of 10 sticks.
Date: July 2015 Score: 39
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Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteI was lucky to score almost the full Angels line (besides Michael) on a private sales site. Most of them are more on the sweeter side (what I like).
Gabriel lets me think of Honey or Pollen, it's a very dark, opulent sweetness;
Metatron is like a combination of a sweet "frankincense" stick (like from Pure, Mother's Fragrances or Holy Smokes/BERK) and a Nag Champa style with a tiny hint of freshness, almost mint like.
Haniel is also sweeter, balsamic, resinous (could be Indian Frankincense and Benzoin) and spicy, maybe Allspice or Clove or even an herb - I'm not so good in recognizing ingredients.
Uriel is sweet, maybe like Amber and Tolu Balm, it has a bit stinging sweetness but not unpleasant. In the background there is an understating tartness. Unlit they smell balsamic and fresh to me and my nose says Vetiver but I can't pick that up while burning.
Raphael is less sweet and kinda herbal but not in a harsh way. It's balsamic, a bit woody (sandal) and resinous, could be Dammar (in sticks, it has a distinctive masculine sweat smell to me).
Chamuel smells unburnt almost like lemon balm, a bit harsh but fresh; burned it's the least sweet of all and I think there is Oakmoss. It's the first incense stick I pick this smell up that doesn't give me the impression of cheap male cologne.
But these are all basically first impressions.
I'm really impressed by the Brand as a whole. I also have Reiji from the Reiki line (also lovely sweet) and a sample pack of the Chakra line (bought at Padma Store) I'm currently sniffing trough. If you are still curious to try more, I strongly recommend trying the Chakra line. The sample pack has 3 sticks each and the burn time is similar to the Angles.
One thing I'm a bit confused about is that there seem to be two different package designs and I'm not sure which one is the older or if there is something else going on.
The official brand site shows the ones you have there. The ones I got look like this: https://www.ephra-world-shop.de/angels-raeucherstaebchen-gabriel.html - There is also not written Fiore D'Oriente written on them, but the manufacturer Natural Incense Company, but the Shop lists them under Fiore. Any insights?
I should mention that the sticks I bought are about 2 years old. (They fused a little but could be separated without damage and they still feel cool/wet.)
That is a great write up Samsa - very detailed and helpful.
ReplyDeleteI looked into the packaging issue, and I'm not clear what is going on. There are Angels sticks sold under the Fiore D'Oriente brand, and Angels sticks sold under the Natural Incense Stick brand, as shown here: Angel Inspired Incense sold by MindBodySpirit The Natural Incense Co. branded sticks are cheaper, but appear to be exactly the same.
The Natural website gives an Indian address in Mandya, but says the sticks are packaged in Italy: NaturalIncenseCompany
The Fiore website says their factory is in Mandya: Fiore
The picture of the Fiore sticks: Fiore sticks
Is the same as the picture for the Natural sticks: Natural sticks
Quite clearly there is a close relationship between Natural and Fiore. My speculation is that either the factory in Mandya makes incense exclusively for Fiore, and have an agreement that Fiore will distribute excess sticks under a different brand name and cheaper, or the factory is owned by Fiore, and they are experimenting with two slightly different brandings of the same incense one cheaper than the other, or the Natural Incense brand sticks have not met the quality control for the Fiore branded sticks.
An email to the company should clear that up.
And I'm curious enough to want to get a packet of Natural Incense branded Haniel and Fiore branded Haniel to see what (if any) difference there is.
Hey, thanks for your detailed reply. You sent them an Email? That's excelent, I don't know why I haven't thought of that. I'm looking forward to your update!
DeleteBtw. I stopped the burning time of one Chamuel stick yesterday and it burned for incredible 1h 30min!
Sending an email doesn't mean I'll get a reply. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I sent a question to one company, five years later I get a reply and a whole bunch of samples. Why there was such a long delay I don't know!
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