Aargee Imperial Maharani Heena Fragrance (discontinued)

Second review - scroll down for earlier

Solid proper job traditional masala incense created with halmaddi.  I love this sort of incense.  I've just read my review of 2021 below, and I don't think I can really add much to that.  The blub on the back of the packet says: "The Imperial Range has been created with recipes which are more than sixty years old and are mixed together by hand by the same family for generations. The paste is hand rolled onto quality bamboo sticks which are then dried naturally in the early morning sunshine."  I like the addition of "early morning" to "sunshine" - gives it added romance and appeal. Good marketing! This is an attractive incense, though is perhaps a tad sombre for my taste, with perhaps a smidge too much halmaddi for me, as it's a bit dry and prickly. There's a smoky element which also holds back on the aesthetic pleasure.  The aroma of the heena (or henna) is not quite sweet enough for my taste - it's a bit minerally and cold. It's pleasant, and has a touch of musk and dry grass, but is not really my thing.  So, it gets a good mark, but not an enthusiastic one. I think the 41 I gave it last time is about right.  I might be inclined to give it 40, but on the whole 41 is fine. 


Date: Dec 2023  Score: 41

First review

Attempting to clear my back log. This is an Aargee incense in their Imperial range. The Imperial was Aargee's halmaddi range, and - along with their Stamford Chakra range, is the best incense they ever sold. Sadly no longer distributed as Aargee have since decided to focus on perfumed incense, it is still available in some places, and I recommend swooping them up if you find any as they are top end incense. The full range of six fragrances are available for £1.50 each at KashmirHeadShop (UK only). 

The Imperial Range

The Imperial range had names like Kashmir, Maharaja, and Pashmina; names familiar to a UK market, and rich with romantic images of India. To go with Maharaja is this Maharani, the wife of an Indian prince. Heena is a variant spelling of henna, the dye, which is made from the henna tree. Henna has a mild scent of earth, cloves, or green tea, which some like and others don't. 

Sticks are 8 inches long, 6 inches are incense. A dry, black masala paste has been hand-rolled onto a hand-cut and pink dyed bamboo splint, and then firmly covered in brown wood dust which carries the scent of the fragrant oils used in the incense. The scent on the stick is warm, honeyed, Indian, perfumed, woody, floral, faintly volatile,  attractive, with the warm wool aroma of halmaddi. 

This is a gentle and refined masala which is made with a blend of dried masala fragrant ingredients, including halmaddi, and some essential oil. The sticks are reasonably weighty and indulgent. the scent is mainly warm lamb's wool and waxy plumeria (or frangipani) petals, creating an evocative scent redolent of  sensual evenings in the early Seventies. This is a moist, enriching, sensual, uplifting, musky, floral, warm, embracing, comforting scent which is more emotional than objective. 

Very nice. 

 

Date: Oct 2021   Score: 41 

***

Vintage Incense
(Incense no longer available)

Other incense by Aargee