Incense In The Wind

Radiating Incense In The Wind - a painting by Hai Linh Le

Sunday 25 June 2023

Koya's Maya Supreme Sambrani Premium Incense Sticks


 
Sambrani is the Indian name for the tree resin Benzoin, though it is a vague term, and can be used generically for any tree resin. I generally like Benzoin/Sambrani. The general use in India is as a cleansing/ritual scent, though is also used for drying hair, and a general pleasing fragrance.  

This is a packet that is left over from a bunch of samples sent to me by Koya's export manager in September 2021. I found it on my desk yesterday under a pile of other stuff while clearing it in an effort to tackle my legendary backlog. On the whole I have been very impressed by Koya's incense - they seem to be generally my sort of incense manufacturer. 

The stick consists of a machine applied black paste which had dried hard and firm on a plain machine-cut bamboo splint, and coated in a thin, fine grey powder. The scent on the stick is very sweet, jammy, vanilla, enticing, mineral, powdery, mint, peach, band-aid, wheat beer, parma violets, licorice, complex, ranging over a number of related and complementary fragrances. Ooh, it is engaging, and very nice. The sort of thing I like. 

The burn is at a medium speed, fairly even, producing a decent amount of clean grey smoke. The scent on the burn is warmer (sometimes hot), than the scent on the stick, though carries much of the same qualities, though predominantly the base and mid notes - much of the light, sweet notes, such as the peach and the parma violets and harder to find, though they are present. Oh gosh. Yes, I like this. No. I love this.  

Post burning it leaves a brilliantly pleasing, cleansing, slightly mineral note in the room. It's an uplifting scent. Yes, quite glorious. 

Good one. Again. 


Date: June 2023   Score: 45 





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