Some years ago Cory of Absolute Bliss sent me a bundle of incense samples to look at. Paul Eagle of Happy Hari had just died, but had given Cory details of his suppliers so Cory could carry on the brand. Cory wanted me to check them out and compare them with the Happy Hari originals, and also just have a good time burning good incense. I burned and reviewed a few of the non Happy Hari incenses, but hesitated when it came to the Happy Hari stuff. I did eventually review one, the Bengali Jungle Fluxo Durbar in 2021, mainly because I was exploring Flora, Fluxo, and Supreme styles of incense. But still didn't deal with the others.
For various reasons, I am now setting out to review all the samples he sent me. One reason is that a long time reader and supporter of IncenseInTheWind, Eugene, has set up his own incense business, Bhagwan Incense. He had discussed it with me many times, yet when someone approached me to say that a new company was using parts of my blog, I'd forgotten the name that Eugene had told me back in March, and that I had agreed he could use any part of my blog that he wished. This led to some awkward comments on a Reddit incense thread, which underlined for me the importance of supporting small businesses, especially when starting up.
Another significant reason is that Cory now has advanced prostate cancer - his sister has set up a fund-raising page to help pay for medical treatment, which people can donate to here. This got me thinking once more about those samples. The Absolute Bliss website is down right now, and I don't know when or if it will be back up again, so I will be marking reviews of these samples as Vintage. The old website can be viewed on WayBack, and Cory's Absolute Bliss FaceBook page is still online.
For various reasons, I am now setting out to review all the samples he sent me. One reason is that a long time reader and supporter of IncenseInTheWind, Eugene, has set up his own incense business, Bhagwan Incense. He had discussed it with me many times, yet when someone approached me to say that a new company was using parts of my blog, I'd forgotten the name that Eugene had told me back in March, and that I had agreed he could use any part of my blog that he wished. This led to some awkward comments on a Reddit incense thread, which underlined for me the importance of supporting small businesses, especially when starting up.
Well, Oudh Masala is based on Happy Hari's Oudh Masala, and Absolute Bliss sold it as the Happy Hari Oudh Masala because Paul had handed the business over to Cory. As far as I'm aware, Cory is the only person to be legitimately allowed to use the Happy Hari name. But, knowing Paul, it is not unlikely that he sold the name and the details of the suppliers to a number of people. So, who knows? I have, though, seen the email threads between Paul and Cory, so I know that Cory had Paul's blessing.
This is a 9 inch joss stick, with 7 inches of a soft crumbly black masala paste hand-rolled onto a plain hand-cut bamboo splint. The stick was then coated in a melnoorva powder, crushed tree bark, to stop the sticks from gluing together as they dry, and also to give the appearance of a masala stick. The powder picks up the scent of the oudh essential oil, so after touching the stick there are gorgeous smelling flecks of dust on your fingers. Oudh (or oud) is the Arabic name for agarwood - the most desired and fragrant of all the fragrant woods. It is the basis for Persian bakhoor, such as Al-Afdal, one of my favourite styles of incense, which I have been intending to study more closely for some years now. And also forms the basis for the Japanese incense culture, and is the root of the common name for Indian joss sticks - agarbathi or agarbatti (agarwood/oudh scented sticks). So, the three main centres in the world for incense, have all been inspired by oudh.
The scent on the stick is genuinely sublime. It is soft, luscious, sexy, heady, gentle, inviting, intoxicating, seductive. The elements are wood, fruit, spice, etc. Divine. Really my sort of incense. I don't have to hand the Happy Hari Oudh Masala that I reviewed in 2017, and gave a score of 48 (it may be in my collection somewhere, but I am totally disorganised, and don't want to waste time looking for it), but I do have a packet of Paul's Small Happy Eagle Oud Masala, which I'm sure is the older version of the Happy Hari Oudh Masala.
The Oud Masala has a softer, more refined scent - somewhat more perfumed. It is delightful, but not quite as rich and earthy and sexy as the Oudh Masala. Both these sticks are old stock, but the Oud Masala is a few years older. I'm not sure if the difference in scent is because the Oud is older, and perhaps a bit faded, or because the Oudh has a better quality/more authentic essential oil. Indeed, some may prefer the more refined quality of the Oud, and may find the Oudh just a little too earthy or rough. There is another slight difference in the sticks - the Oud stick has the tip dyed green, while the Oudh is completely plain. I don't recall if the 2017 Oudh had a green tip, and the photo in my review doesn't show the tip of the stick.
This is a 9 inch joss stick, with 7 inches of a soft crumbly black masala paste hand-rolled onto a plain hand-cut bamboo splint. The stick was then coated in a melnoorva powder, crushed tree bark, to stop the sticks from gluing together as they dry, and also to give the appearance of a masala stick. The powder picks up the scent of the oudh essential oil, so after touching the stick there are gorgeous smelling flecks of dust on your fingers. Oudh (or oud) is the Arabic name for agarwood - the most desired and fragrant of all the fragrant woods. It is the basis for Persian bakhoor, such as Al-Afdal, one of my favourite styles of incense, which I have been intending to study more closely for some years now. And also forms the basis for the Japanese incense culture, and is the root of the common name for Indian joss sticks - agarbathi or agarbatti (agarwood/oudh scented sticks). So, the three main centres in the world for incense, have all been inspired by oudh.
The scent on the stick is genuinely sublime. It is soft, luscious, sexy, heady, gentle, inviting, intoxicating, seductive. The elements are wood, fruit, spice, etc. Divine. Really my sort of incense. I don't have to hand the Happy Hari Oudh Masala that I reviewed in 2017, and gave a score of 48 (it may be in my collection somewhere, but I am totally disorganised, and don't want to waste time looking for it), but I do have a packet of Paul's Small Happy Eagle Oud Masala, which I'm sure is the older version of the Happy Hari Oudh Masala.
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| The older version of Happy Hari's Oud Masala |
The Oud Masala has a softer, more refined scent - somewhat more perfumed. It is delightful, but not quite as rich and earthy and sexy as the Oudh Masala. Both these sticks are old stock, but the Oud Masala is a few years older. I'm not sure if the difference in scent is because the Oud is older, and perhaps a bit faded, or because the Oudh has a better quality/more authentic essential oil. Indeed, some may prefer the more refined quality of the Oud, and may find the Oudh just a little too earthy or rough. There is another slight difference in the sticks - the Oud stick has the tip dyed green, while the Oudh is completely plain. I don't recall if the 2017 Oudh had a green tip, and the photo in my review doesn't show the tip of the stick.
Now, here's an interesting thing, when I lit up the Oud it burned black until I blew out the smoke, and there was a plastic or petrol intensity about the burning - it was a little more than wood and charcoal dust. Fair Trade Incense Works claim that most incense fragrant oils are diluted with DEP or agarbatti oil which causes a black smoke when lit. Out of curiosity I re-lit the Oudh and left it burning a while. Yes. After a moment that also produced a black smoke and began to burn hungrily. Yet it has a divine scent. It seems it may be possible to use DEP, and still have a great smelling incense. It seems that it depends on how much is used. But, I don't know for sure.
The Oud is pleasant, but not in the same category as the Oudh. It has a pleasant soft, creamy sandalwood and halmaddi scent touched with agarwood. Likeable, but not divine. Returning to the Absolute Bliss Happy Hari Oudh confirms that this is the real deal. Lovely stuff.
Date: Sept 2023 Score: 49
The Oud is pleasant, but not in the same category as the Oudh. It has a pleasant soft, creamy sandalwood and halmaddi scent touched with agarwood. Likeable, but not divine. Returning to the Absolute Bliss Happy Hari Oudh confirms that this is the real deal. Lovely stuff.
Date: Sept 2023 Score: 49
***
Finally an incense we are likewhise totaly excited about!
ReplyDeleteJust a few days ago, I put my review of Happy Hari's Oudh Masala I got from Padma Store online.
I made up my mind to slowely abandon the rating system for several reasons so there is no rating but this incense is just perfect and I would have given it a 4,9 or even 5,0
Mine look just like yours from Absolute Bliss, no dyed tip.
In my experience many things can make an incense stick produce black smoke. Chemicals may be one of them but (some?) essential oils also burn with a black smoke and so does resin.
Some of my home made sticks do, because of the high resin content.
Yes. I am curious about some of Fair Trade's comments. While it is clear that DEP is used in incense manufacture, the amount that is used is uncertain. Fair Trade make a claim that 98% of manufacturers use it, though I somehow doubt they have done a comprehensive survey.
DeleteAnd I have been somewhat dubious about the claims that black smoke is a sure sign of DEP use. My own vague knowledge of physics would suggest that black smoke would be produced where the material is not fully burned - so in situations where a stick is burning too quickly for the formulation, there will be a fair amount of material that is not fully burned and so would produce particles rising as smoke. When the flame is blown out, the stick will burn at the smouldering speed planned for the formulation, and most material will be consumed, and so there will be fewer particles rising as smoke.
I'd like to add my thoughts on the black smoke from some incense that we encounter. As mentioned above by Rauchfahne above, DEP may not always the culprit. Over the years I noticed that incense from the better brands that are known to use synthetic scents in their masala style incense seldom give off black smoke when lighting. I spent some time researching this and found that bulk synthetic scents which meet IFRA/FDA certification standards (which is becoming increasingly necessary to secure product import licensing) require solvent carriers/dilutants. This is not undesirable providing the solvent used meets purity standards and as such evaporates from the finished product without leaving contaminants or residual solvent. Solvents in of themselves are not the evil providing the process is controlled.
DeleteIt's true many low cost incense do use crude scents that are DEP based, and we've all experienced their black smoke and acrid smell, but I don't think that is what we are seeing from some of the more premium incense we buy that give off black smoke when lit. While some natural resins and gums will product black smoke when under flame I don't think the quantity used in modern incense would account for it solely. I believe the problem actually stems from the now almost exclusive use of essential oils rather than absolute extracts in some modern masala style incense. The steam distillation process used to produce essential oils is simpler and more cost efficient than the process for absolute extracts but can present a challenge for incense production. Steam distillation does not selectively extract compounds by molecule polarity unlike the methods used for absolute extracts, and since commercially produced essential oils must be diluted in a carrier due to their volatility this can be a restrictive concern.
If a particular essential oil is not miscible with common low cost solvents it will likely require the use of a carrier oil, mineral oil being commonly employed for cosmetic uses. Previously an absolute extract would be used for an ingredient in good quality incense where this is the case. What I suspect we are seeing is the increased inclusion of these oil-diluted essential oils as absolute extract production becomes rarer and cost prohibitive for commercial incense production. Hence the black smoke. How undesirable is this? I don't like it but find myself ignoring it, and if this is the case we may see more of it given the state of the world we currently find ourselves living in.
I love your knowledge and research Chris.
DeleteAre we all now of the opinion that pretty much most modern Indian incense uses some form of perfume/fragrance oil (including carrier), and that the term "masala" is probably misleading as it implies a mix of dried fragrant material. I like the way that some Indian companies use "natural" and "perfumed". That feels more informative. "Perfume-dipped" appears to me to apply to most Indian incense, as modern masala incense appears to rely heavily on "dipping" the finished stick in some kind of fragrant liquid.
And I think that when a stick coated in wood powder is dipped in a fragrant oil on an industrial scale, then some form of carrier is going to be essential otherwise the cost would be astronomical.
DeleteThe quality control of applying the fragrant oil to the mix before rolling makes more sense, and I think that is where the essential oils or absolutes would be used. Once rolled, any dipping that takes place to create that surface aroma would need to be in a carrier heavy fragrant oil in order to keep costs reasonable.
Agreed Steve, and this is in line with what used to be referred to a Durbar incense. While the term 'Durbar' only means a quality of incense that was considered superior (or good enough to be burned in palaces), it became associated with masala incense that was later dipped in fragrant absolute extracts simply because it was once a common practice in premium quality incense. I've always found the descriptive terminology used in incense confusing and subjective, the masala issue you mentioned being a good example. Even incense from the 70's/80's we would both be happy to call true masala contained extracts/oils in the base mix rolled on the stick, and I find it difficult to say outright that true masala incense only consists of dry ingredients with a binder. What I'd like to see is a new batch of terms that better reflects modern incense production methods. A pipe dream, I know. :)
DeleteI accept extracts/oil in the base mix as part of a true masala. It's when the finished stick is dipped in a fragrance which then does most of the work that I start to question if the term "masala" is appropriate. In discussion with some makers, it appears that the noorva or wood powder finish to the sticks that we associate with masala is added mainly for giving the appearance of a masala stick. People associate the powder with a masala, so when making and marketing a masala style stick, the public expect to see the powder.
DeleteI don't know enough about incense manufacture to know why masala sticks require the powder, while perfumed sticks don't. I can conjecture that a masala paste is thicker and stickier and wetter (especially if containing fragrant oils) than a basic charcoal paste, but I don't know for sure.