Satya (Mumbai) Blessings

This is a very sweet and delicious incense. Made by the "bad boy" brother, Nagraj Setty, who after the death of the father and founder, Satyam Setty, took charge of marketing and distributing in Mumbai, and when the two brothers split up in 2014 (not sure why, but Nagraj was the first of the brothers to form a new company - in Sept 2014) Nagraj used his contacts and distribution network to sell incense under the Satya name that was not made in the original Satya factories nor using the original Satya recipes. Quality was poor, and regular buyers of Satya incense were complaining about lower standards, with rumours that the company was no longer using halmaddi. The brother, Balkrishna, who was still making the original Satya incense in the same old way in Bangalore, took Nagraj to court for misleading people, while Nagraj sent out cease and desist orders to American distributors to prevent Balkrishna from selling the original Satya in America. It was all very naughty and messy. But things appear to have settled down now. Incense from both brothers is widely distributed in the UK (not sure about the rest of the world - anyone know?), and I have seen the brothers' incense being sold side by side in at least one shop. And the quality from Nagraj has improved. On blind tests I like incense from Nagraj about the same as that from Balkrishna - sometimes more, though Chrissie always has the nose for the original! I suspect she has the more refined nose. I just like what I like!

Anyway, this is a machine made masala stick. It is very sweet and succulent. Not too heavy. Not too much halmaddi (maybe that's  the significant difference? Maybe Nagraj doesn't use as much halmaddi - which suits me more, as I like my halmaddi in very small does). It's a sweet, warm sandalwood with rich citric notes. I like this a lot.


Date: Aug 2019   Score:  40

I'm having a Satya binge - going through my new stocks, and revisiting previously reviewed packs. This is a modern incense - machine made with modern fragrances. There is little of the traditional masala incense scent or feel about this. This is the direction that incense is going - indeed, probably needs to go: difficult to see how we can continue to ask poor Indian women to hand roll incense for pennies, difficult to see how incense can attract and hold a modern customer base with a limited scent range that you either like or don't like, with little variation, difficult to see how exploitation of the halmaddi tree can continue on a large scale. There will be a market for traditional hand rolled masala incense made with halmaddi, but it's a niche interest, mainly based in America. Suppliers such as Paul of Happy Hari, who had a love of traditional masala incense, find they have trouble competing with modern incense. Modern incenses are not the same as the cheap black charcoal perfumed-dipped incense. Modern incenses have a quality scent, and use modern fragrances, sometimes based on stylish perfumes, or on fun ingredients like baby powder, chocolate cookies, or bubblegum.

Anyway, I wander.... I like this scent. It bears little relation to traditional classic Satya, and is firmly in the modern, baby powder field. I like it a lot.

Date: Nov 2019  Score: 40

***

Satya (Shrinivas Sugandhalaya)