Mayur Agarbathi Co. (MAC) / Anand Products Mayur Flora Fluxo Bathi

  

Latest review - scroll down for earlier

The scent on the stick is divine. Absolutely top marks for that. Burns for approx 55 mins. Soft, delicious, though not quite as profound as the fragrance on the stick. An enveloping incense, not one to burn too close, yet not bold enough to fully inform a large room. There's a delicate balance with this stick, which it's not easy to get right, but do so, and it does have a sweet, dreamy reward. 

I have issues with the prickly nature of the scent (too much halmaddi?), and the lack of weight and length in the fragrance, but on the whole this is a damn fine stick. 

It's currently (Nov 2023) sold out on Popat Stores (is that my fault for putting it Top of The Dhoops?), though in searching for suppliers I came across this review on Reddit by InTheWind reader Chris Burns, someone whose opinion I genuinely respect. 

Anyway, I am now out of stock of this incense. I have reached out to Anand to see if they will sell me some direct, along with some other masala incense they produce. Cross fingers! 

Date: Nov 2023 Score: 42

Second review

I have returned to this after several months to a) see if it still holds up as a Top of the Dhoops incense,  b) to see if I can find out more about Mayur Agarbathi, and c) to see if I could purchase any other incense they have made.  

Well, I have found out very little information about Mayur, other than they are (were?) based in a short  dead end street, 2nd Cross Road, off Laggere Main Road in Bangalore, one of the main incense-making centres of India. Google shows Mayur as "temporarily closed". Meanwhile, I looked into the company who are marked on the packet as marketing the incense: Anand Products of Mumbai.  Anand have been in business since 1973, and make both perfumed (scented) and masala incense. At least one of their many products is one sale in the UK - their Flora Fluxo.  But I haven't seen any other products elsewhere. What I have noted though is that this Mayur Flora Fluxo is being sold as an Anand product. So it seems that Anand have taken over the brand. 

I can understand why I put this at the top of the pile as my favourite incense, the scent on the stick really is delicious: vanilla, milky chocolate, creamy white sandalwood, touches of banana; soft, sweet, almost edible, floaty, feminine, desirable. Utterly gorgeous. The scent on the burn has some of these features, particularly the vanilla and creamy sandalwood, though also has a generic smoky tone which lingers just beneath the gentle sweet scents. My main pause with this incense is that it is rather soft and subtle, which is surprising as it is clearly a flora fluxo style incense which tend to be rather full on. The delicate nature of the scent on the burn is what allows some of the generic burning material and binders to come through as generic smoke.  That's not to say this is a wimpy incense as it's not - it presents a delightful scent in our main room and attached rooms; but it's not bold enough to penetrate deeply into the house, nor does it have a long life. It's certainly not very apparent the next day, which I consider to be a weakness for a masala incense. 

One other, minor, quibble is that the scent is pleasant but not interesting, there are no contrasting scents, and the scent doesn't take me on a journey. It presents a bundle of very attractive and desirable scents, but does little else. That's not a quibble that is going to remove many points, but it's a quibble, along with the general lack of impact, that I feel means it can't remain top of my dhoops. 

Date: Aug 2023   Score: 47 

First review

Bought from Popat Stores for £1.99 - wow what a stunning stick of incense!  I've not seen these anywhere else, and they are sublime, so grab 'em now quick!  Juicy fat masala sticks rich with luscious sweet oils and pregnant with mighty resins. The creamy scent on the stick is to die for. Very much in the fluxo style - copying Sri Sai Flora Fluxo Incense, though with added yumminess! If, like me, you enjoy sweet, heady scents which intriguingly balance woody resins with sweet, floral oils, then you're going to love this! An incense to die for, and only £1.99 for 50g (120 rupees in India,  which is £1.27 - how on Earth do Popat do it?  This is an incense I would understand being sold for at least £5, and easily for £10 or more). 

You can sniff the stick for hours and seek out the scents - there's a lot going on, but all of it harmoniously, so it never saturates or overwhelms, but always tantalises and teases in a joyous and playful manner. There's rich woody resins, the heady florals, and some playful sweet and sparkly citrus running through it all to keep us smiling. Oh man! This is fast becoming my absolute favourite incense of the moment! 

As this is a proper job top grade masala, the scent on the burn is as promised on the stick. This is a heavenly incense. I love it.  Top of the dhoops! 

Date: Nov 2022   Score: 50 

Flora, Fluxo, and Supreme