A reasonably attractive masala / perfumed incense from Nandita, distributed in the West by Wonder Incense. Available in Australia, in America, and in the UK - generally for less than £2 (or equivalent) for 15g. I like Nandita incense, it is generally good masala, and sometimes, as with Wood Spice, is incense that I adore. I'm not hugely impressed with this one, though it is likeable enough.
Attar is an essential oil mostly associated with roses. I'm not entirely clear on the difference between an essential oil and an attar. Sources seem to indicate that an attar is hydro-distilled while essential oils are steam distilled - though from my reading, it seems that hydro and steam distilled are the same: place the plant material in water, heat the water and catch the distilled steam. If using rose petals, the distilled part would be attar of roses, while the liquid that remains after distillation would be rose water. Attar is the Arabic name for perfume, so the more I look at this, the more it seems that there is no technical difference between attar and essential oil, though there is a cultural association of roses with attar.
The sticks are somewhat crudely hand made. Fairly thin (though quite variable in thickness) hand rolled masala paste on hand cut bamboo splints, with a gentle coating of tree bark dust. Some sticks are thin and bendy. It all looks quite bargain basement. There is a volatile perfume on the stick - slightly floral, sandalwood, pine. Not great. More like a room freshener than what I would feel is a natural attar. The scent on the burn is more attractive, though rests more on the perfume than on the masala ingredients. The scent is allusive - never clearly defined. It presents as a sort of generic perfumed incense with an underlying masala quality. Unclear and scrappy floral perfume incense, slightly scratched, with unclear and scrappy sandalwood masala. For all my unflattering descriptions it's actually an OK incense, just not a good one. There is rose in here, but not quality rose.
Attar is an essential oil mostly associated with roses. I'm not entirely clear on the difference between an essential oil and an attar. Sources seem to indicate that an attar is hydro-distilled while essential oils are steam distilled - though from my reading, it seems that hydro and steam distilled are the same: place the plant material in water, heat the water and catch the distilled steam. If using rose petals, the distilled part would be attar of roses, while the liquid that remains after distillation would be rose water. Attar is the Arabic name for perfume, so the more I look at this, the more it seems that there is no technical difference between attar and essential oil, though there is a cultural association of roses with attar.
The sticks are somewhat crudely hand made. Fairly thin (though quite variable in thickness) hand rolled masala paste on hand cut bamboo splints, with a gentle coating of tree bark dust. Some sticks are thin and bendy. It all looks quite bargain basement. There is a volatile perfume on the stick - slightly floral, sandalwood, pine. Not great. More like a room freshener than what I would feel is a natural attar. The scent on the burn is more attractive, though rests more on the perfume than on the masala ingredients. The scent is allusive - never clearly defined. It presents as a sort of generic perfumed incense with an underlying masala quality. Unclear and scrappy floral perfume incense, slightly scratched, with unclear and scrappy sandalwood masala. For all my unflattering descriptions it's actually an OK incense, just not a good one. There is rose in here, but not quality rose.
Interesting how will all interpret fragrances differently. For me the overwhelming fragrance was that of turpentine, not the 'white spirit' we clean out paint brushes in today, but the original turps of yesteryear. Or maybe mine was a bad batch?
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense. Old turps was a volatile though ill-defined aroma with notes of pine - sort of oily, woody, petrol like. Not necessarily a bad smell. I think turps is in line with our own experience here. The part I'm not sure about, and I think was suggestive, is the floral/rose aspect. I was the only one in the house who smelt rose, and I was the only one who knew it was called Attar and did the research into attar and its association with roses. Pine was the common denominator. And that aligns with your experience of smelling proper turps, which was made from pine.
DeleteI have no idea, though, what Nandita intended it to smell like. With a name like Attar, I can't imagine they intended it to smell of pine or turps.
Agreed, it is an odd one.
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