We did a Jasmine v Jasmine burn off earlier this year. The results fell into a fairly close band, with most incense around 25. This is what we recorded: "Warm and woody. This gives the sensual side to jasmine, though lacks the bright, uplifting floral side. It's a nice enough scent, but there's little here that is actually jasmine. Soft, milky, countryside. Underperforms, but is pleasant enough. Score: 23"
A score of 23 for a Cottage Industries incense feels appropriate because that is about the average of the scores I have given incenses from the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. On the whole I find them a little sombre, dry, uninteresting, mild. And, as here, off-target. There's not a lot of awareness of jasmine in this incense. What there is is quite spicy, dry, a little hot, a little harsh. The stick, when lit, has a modest flame, and there's no detectable black smoke. When the flame is blown out, it smoulders gently and evenly, producing a thin, faint column of icy blue-grey smoke. This is a mild incense which gently informs a room. It lingers faintly and pleasantly with no off-notes. It feels pure, natural, and traditional - but that's not the same as interesting, exciting, delightful,, etc. This presents to me more like a Tibetan incense, or a lower end Japanese, than a modern Indian incense. I think there is a potential historic interest in Cottage Industries incense, as these Heritage incenses appear to be made in the same way as incenses were made in India back in the 1940s. I doubt these incenses use modern chemicals. I feel these are genuine traditional masala - closer in spirit to the bamboo-less incense sticks (dhoop) that were taken by monks across to Japan and Tibet.
A score of 23 for a Cottage Industries incense feels appropriate because that is about the average of the scores I have given incenses from the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. On the whole I find them a little sombre, dry, uninteresting, mild. And, as here, off-target. There's not a lot of awareness of jasmine in this incense. What there is is quite spicy, dry, a little hot, a little harsh. The stick, when lit, has a modest flame, and there's no detectable black smoke. When the flame is blown out, it smoulders gently and evenly, producing a thin, faint column of icy blue-grey smoke. This is a mild incense which gently informs a room. It lingers faintly and pleasantly with no off-notes. It feels pure, natural, and traditional - but that's not the same as interesting, exciting, delightful,, etc. This presents to me more like a Tibetan incense, or a lower end Japanese, than a modern Indian incense. I think there is a potential historic interest in Cottage Industries incense, as these Heritage incenses appear to be made in the same way as incenses were made in India back in the 1940s. I doubt these incenses use modern chemicals. I feel these are genuine traditional masala - closer in spirit to the bamboo-less incense sticks (dhoop) that were taken by monks across to Japan and Tibet.
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