Incense in The Wind: New Age Imports Artisan Five Elements Incense

Odd looking but wonderful incense sticks branded and distributed by New Age Imports of California, and sold by various shops in America, such as ExoticIncense and Nishe for around $5 or $6 for six sticks (about £3 or £4). The ingredients are: Maya Copal, White Sage, Palo Santo, Myrrh, and Frankincense. It's not clear who makes this, or where, so I asked New Age Imports, who told me: "This item is made by us in California. We are currently out of stock of this item at this time. We only sell wholesale."

It kinda looks more like some sort of children's sweet than an incense - a stick of toffee rolled in coconut, perhaps. It has quite an earthy, plant like aroma when burned - a little hot and spikey. So this feels more like a Spiritual/Ritual incense, than an incense you would burn for the aesthetic pleasure. It's certainly more toward the Tibetan end than the Persian. The predominant note is burning dried plants - the white sage, which is quite cleansing with herby, lemongrass notes. I'm not really picking up much of the other ingredients. I have burned copal - Native Spirit Copal resin, which had a citric, herbal scent, which, like the sage, was cleansing rather than aesthetically pleasing. I guess that copal could be in here, though the scents are likely to merge together than than contrast or compliment - I am picking up some nudges of sweat and fenugreek, a hint of curry, which could be the copal. I have several samples of Palo Santo wood, but none that I have yet reviewed - the only Palo Santo I have reviewed have been cones, such as Satya's Palo Santo Dhoop Cones (which I didn't like) and Green Tree's Palo Santo Incense Cones (which I did like). I found the scent to be, like the sage and the copal, rather lemony - so these three would be blending together to create a cleansing, lemony, herby scent. Myrrh and Frankincense, of course, are more musky, sweet scents - these may be present, acting as a base for the higher, lemon notes, though I'm not really picking them up.

I'm finding the scent on the burn to be quite pleasant, even now, an hour after I first lit the stick. It is certainly calming and relaxing, though also cleansing and uplifting. I was a little uncertain at first, and quite ready to dismiss this as just another earthy Tibetan style incense to be burned more for the spiritual side of things than the pleasure of the aroma, though with this I feel that both are being handled quite well. I do feel the spiritual benefits, and I am enjoying the scent. I am surprised by just how much I have enjoyed (and benefited) from this incense. Yes - a good one indeed.

Date: March 2022 Score: 41

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