Incense in The Wind: Loban / Sambrani

Tuesday, 31 March 2020

Loban / Sambrani

Loban or sambrani is a resin mix burned for its cleansing power and other properties rather more than the aesthetic qualities of the aroma, which can vary from neutral and mineral via pine and medicine to pleasantly sweet with balsamic vanilla notes. While loban is regarded in the West as the Indian term for benzoin, or for any fragrant tree resin, in reality loban is usually a resin mix involving benzoin and other gums and resins, possibly made in Malaysia or Indonesia using various guarded recipes, which Thomas Kinkele says may be termed "Calcutta block benzoin".

The name loban is derived from the Arabic word for frankincense - luban. While benzoin is derived from the Arabic word lubānjāwī, which means "incense of Java". Benzoin is a key ingredient in a loban mix, as well as being used as an ingredient in masala incense as a fixative or a sacrificial element to make the main fragrance brighter. Like frankincense and myrrh it is a tree resin. I've read that it comes from the storax tree, also that it comes from the sal tree. Loban is used in the north, while sambrani is used in the south - though I've seen loban used in both north and south to refer to the resin mix itself and to incense sticks fragranced with it, while sambrani is used in both north and south to refer to the mix when used in cups.

Sambrani cups are very popular in India, and have been available in the UK since at least 2017. I like sambrani - it is a fragrant tree resin, like frankincense, myrrh, dragon's blood, etc. It has a number of uses, including medicinal, as well as being a fragrance ingredient due to its fixing quality and sweet vanilla scent. It is particularly popular in India where it is burned as a single ingredient as part of a cleansing ritual. Typically when burned as part of a cleansing ritual, it will either be in a sambrani cup, such as Raj Guru Vandana Sambrani Cup, or a thick dhoop, such as Ambica Pooja Sambrani.

Kinkele says that loban has an "enveloping, soothing, protective cloak inviting us to relax and dream", which is rather nice.

A reader, Chris, has said: "I've bought several loban and sambrani incense and none of them have smelled even remotely like benzoin resin. Either these descriptions have become stylized (I've had frankincense incense labelled loban before), or maybe sambrani uses another part of the styrax tree rather than the resin. Benzoin resin is sweet smelling and vanilla dominant. I'd be suspicious of any benzoin resin that isn't."