Incense in The Wind: Happy Hari / Hari Krishna / Cultures of Eden Darshan Flora

I'm burning this Happy Hari / Cultures of Eden incense and, forgive me, but I may waffle on for a bit. Very good incense does that sometimes - brings forth memories, and puts me in a reflective mood. Most of the incense we burn is everyday incense - we may burn it several times a day and for a variety of reasons; but the very special incense we like to burn at special moments. It seems inappropriate to burn a special incense just to cover up a bad smell or simply to freshen a room. It's like, we have wine we drink everyday, and wine we drink for special occasions. Or everyday food, and then the special food for special occasions. Etc. It doesn't do to mix them up! This is a special incense.

Paul Eagle found an incense manufacturer in India, and that incense maker used traditional ingredients and traditional methods to create incense Paul liked and which he then distributed in the UK and USA under Paul's own brand of Happy Hari. I suspect he used the same supplier as Mukunda dasa of Gokula uses, as some of their incenses have qualities in common. Or it may just be that both of their suppliers are using the same shared knowledge. Whatever, I like much of the incense that Paul distributed - not all of it, but much of it, and this is one I do like.

Anyway. I started this incense blog, as I say here, after my local incense shop had run out of my usual cheap brand of perfume-dipped incense that I had been buying for years (107 Sticks in a green box - I have bought a pack and will review it shortly), and so I bought some Satya Nag Champa, and my world changed overnight. I was blown away by the experience, and wanted to discover more and learn more. Which is why I started this blog. I happened upon some of Happy Hari's Nag Champa Gold in 2015, which I reviewed favourably, and Paul Eagle of Happy Hari got in touch with me and sent me a selection of samples of his other incenses to review. Personal circumstances meant my attention went away from my blog for a few months. When I returned I started to review the samples that Paul had sent me, and I was really blown away by the quality. Sadly, in the meantime, he had died. He had killed himself on Christmas Day 2016. This was a blow to me on a personal level, because of the connection I had made with Paul, and also because it meant that his Happy Hari incense would now close. Paul had always kept quiet about his source. However, Corey Topel of Absolute Bliss incense in the USA got in touch to tell me that not only did he have stocks of Happy Hari incense, but he also had details of Paul's supplier. He sent me some samples. Corey assures me that the Happy Hari he has at this store is the same as that which Paul was selling. For those of us who enjoy traditional masala incense at its best, that is good to hear. I am also aware that in the UK, Holly Paige of Cultures of Eden, for which this incense was branded, is now trading as Food For Consciousness, and she continues to sell Paul's incense, and says "through serendipitous connections" she has "a source of incense from the Happy Hari suppliers, plus new scents from one of his apprentices". It's all looking quite interesting, and quite hopeful. I suspect, given the similarity I am discovering between Paul's Cultures of Eden incense, and some of the incenses sold by the small British distributors Gokula, that what Holly has is likely the same Indian manufacturer that Mukunda of Gokula uses, though Mukunda tells me that he is not supplying Holly himself. Meanwhile, back to the incense I am burning.....

I have had two previous Darshan Flora incenses - one by SAC - their Atma Darshan Flora, and one by Gokula, their Gopala Darshan Flora. The SAC incense is also a masala incense (a masala incense is one where all the ingredients are natural, and are finely ground into a powder which is then rolled onto a paste around a stick - the paste often containing halmaddi, a binding agent which has its own scent ingredient), but, other than being a masala and having a similar name, it has little in common with this Happy Hari incense. The Gopala Darshan Flora, however, is very similar. I no longer have in my collection the Gopala, but from my recollection, and my review, I note that the colour on the stick is the same, and that the scent experience is the same. Given that Paul didn't put the Happy Hari brand name on this, but used the name Hari Krishna Incense, I suspected that he was re-marketing Mukunda's Gokula sticks, as Mukunda is a member of the Krishna movement. However, Mukunda has since told me that he didn't supply Paul, so they were simply using the same producer.

I really like this. The colour is a deep earthy red, fluffy like flower pollen, and the aroma is rich and spicy and musky yet floral and exciting and bright. It is seductive and exciting. It has fresh leather and damp straw and horse sweat. It's an incredibly engaging and natural aroma, and very sexy in an animalistic way. A number of incenses which smell great on the stick often disappoint when being burned, but this stick lives up to its promise - it remains exotic, vivid and sexy, with that neat juxtaposition of musk and flowers. I have burned a few sticks now, and there are subtle differences each time - presumably due to the small differences that occur with hand rolling. Sometimes I sense a little prickling that I get from the use of halmaddi, but not much. There's a base scent of sandalwood, and then increasing layers of citric and floral. It is lovely. This is Heavenly Incense - one that I will burn for special occasions and special moments - or when I want to create special moments.

Date: June 2018 Score: 42

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