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| Second review - scroll down for earlier |
Another sandalwood incense in the Shroff "dry" masala sample pack from Padma Store. One stick is a little fatter than the other, though has a much thicker bamboo splint, so the amount of paste could be equal between the two. The sticks are, at 8 inches of paste on a 10 inch stick, a little longer than the average incense stick.
The scent on the stick is fairly similar to the Mysore Sandal (the thinner stick of the two samples I had) - it is light, flowery, underscored by a soft, creamy sandalwood. The flowery notes are jasmine inclined with some iris and lotus - though not a fresh, complete, complex lotus - more the main scent compound - that of 1,4-Dimethoxybenzene, which when synthesised is used in perfumes and skin creams. Yes, the scent on the stick does lean toward skin cream. The thinner stick has less of an impact - it appears to be the same scent profile, though without the clarity and profundity of the thicker stick.
On the burn I hold the stick at the conventional 20 degree angle, then upside down, and then upright (the top photo was taken a little while ago, and the stick extinguished shortly after the picture was taken - it doesn't represent how the stick is burned during a review; I'm just finding it more convenient to do all the photos of a batch at the same time, so I don't need to clear a tidy space to take a photo each time I do a new review). Burning upright, as with my previous experiments on other sticks, produces the best scent in which the top notes are exposed and expressed rather than swamped by the heart and base notes. The accord here is creamy, white, light, flowery. It holds back from profound, and - rather like skin cream - after a while can be a little satiating so I don't wish for more.
On the burn I hold the stick at the conventional 20 degree angle, then upside down, and then upright (the top photo was taken a little while ago, and the stick extinguished shortly after the picture was taken - it doesn't represent how the stick is burned during a review; I'm just finding it more convenient to do all the photos of a batch at the same time, so I don't need to clear a tidy space to take a photo each time I do a new review). Burning upright, as with my previous experiments on other sticks, produces the best scent in which the top notes are exposed and expressed rather than swamped by the heart and base notes. The accord here is creamy, white, light, flowery. It holds back from profound, and - rather like skin cream - after a while can be a little satiating so I don't wish for more.
The thinner stick produces, for me, a more acceptable and rounded experience in which the deeper notes offer a little more balance to the light, creamy top notes. Though it's a fairly subtle distinction - an amuser le nez rather than a main meal.
Date: July 2024 Score: 33
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| First review |
A pack of Shroff "dry" incense from the decent American site Exotic Incense - sold at $2 for 25g. The incense is imported into America by The Incense Sampler Works, who have the sticks simply bundled into 25g and 250g packs, tied with string, and then wrapped in cellophane with a small paper slip giving the basic information: name, place made, weight, who imported it.
These are hand rolled sticks - a charcoal based paste applied to a hand-cut bamboo splint, and then coated in a woody melnoorva powder to stop the sticks gluing together as the paste dries. The bulk of the scent on the stick comes from a fragrant oil or perfume - there is a volatility about the scent which reveals this. It's unknown if the charcoal paste contains additional fragrant ingredients. At this stage the stick is behaving like a perfumed-incense. The scent on the stick is soapy with some floral notes, vaguely jasmine, and underscored, quite lightly, with some creamy sandalwood. Not a woody sandalwood, just the sweet notes. It's pleasant, inviting, clean.
The scent on the burn is pleasant, mildly soapy, woody - a soft, creamy wood. Acceptable. OK, but nothing special. It burns a little hot and sharp. There's little about this which suggests quality. This does feel like bargain basement Shroff.
Date: Nov 2022 Score: 27
These are hand rolled sticks - a charcoal based paste applied to a hand-cut bamboo splint, and then coated in a woody melnoorva powder to stop the sticks gluing together as the paste dries. The bulk of the scent on the stick comes from a fragrant oil or perfume - there is a volatility about the scent which reveals this. It's unknown if the charcoal paste contains additional fragrant ingredients. At this stage the stick is behaving like a perfumed-incense. The scent on the stick is soapy with some floral notes, vaguely jasmine, and underscored, quite lightly, with some creamy sandalwood. Not a woody sandalwood, just the sweet notes. It's pleasant, inviting, clean.
The scent on the burn is pleasant, mildly soapy, woody - a soft, creamy wood. Acceptable. OK, but nothing special. It burns a little hot and sharp. There's little about this which suggests quality. This does feel like bargain basement Shroff.
Date: Nov 2022 Score: 27
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