Another ancient incense packet in my hoard that I haven't reviewed. They keep cropping up! Aargee was a UK importer of (mostly) Indian goods, and commissioned a number of incenses either under the Aargee or the Stamford brand. The company split up a few years ago, with the general goods division being taken over by Puckator, while the incense division restarted under the name London Stamford. The Aargee branded masala incense was generally very good - much was commissioned from Satya or Goloka, though some, such as the Imperial and the Chakra series, were of a more individual character than either of those.
This is a fairly standard decent masala. The sticks are 8 inches with 6 inches of hard, crumbly black paste hand rolled onto a plain hand-cut bamboo splint, and then coated in a layer of fine brown powder or melnoorva. There is a crisp masala scent on the stick - a few hints of the fragrance being an oil or perfume, though it mainly feels that the scent comes from odoriferous material such as plants and resins; there's also a prickle of raw lambs wool, which I tend to associate with halmaddi, a gummy tree resin that helps to diffuse and project the fragrant ingredients. The scent on the stick is woody, mineral. spicy, balsamic, engaging.
The aroma when burning repeats the scent on the stick. This is a secure fragrance - very clean and mineral, very satisfying, solid and dependable, cleansing, cool, pleasant. It's not rough, not exciting, not interesting or dramatic, not sexy or disturbing. It is what it is. Likeable, reassuring, cleansing (have I said cleansing), and for me leaning in the direction of sambrani/loban, but without the sweet, vanilla, musky aspects of benzoin. I like it. I like it a lot. But it doesn't excite me or grab my attention enough to get the high scores.
This is a fairly standard decent masala. The sticks are 8 inches with 6 inches of hard, crumbly black paste hand rolled onto a plain hand-cut bamboo splint, and then coated in a layer of fine brown powder or melnoorva. There is a crisp masala scent on the stick - a few hints of the fragrance being an oil or perfume, though it mainly feels that the scent comes from odoriferous material such as plants and resins; there's also a prickle of raw lambs wool, which I tend to associate with halmaddi, a gummy tree resin that helps to diffuse and project the fragrant ingredients. The scent on the stick is woody, mineral. spicy, balsamic, engaging.
The aroma when burning repeats the scent on the stick. This is a secure fragrance - very clean and mineral, very satisfying, solid and dependable, cleansing, cool, pleasant. It's not rough, not exciting, not interesting or dramatic, not sexy or disturbing. It is what it is. Likeable, reassuring, cleansing (have I said cleansing), and for me leaning in the direction of sambrani/loban, but without the sweet, vanilla, musky aspects of benzoin. I like it. I like it a lot. But it doesn't excite me or grab my attention enough to get the high scores.
One of my favourite camphor based incense, I have a few packs left but was sad to see this discontinued here in the UK, though I believe it can still be found in India under other brands such as Maharani. Nikhil's Sugandha shares some commonality to my nose.
ReplyDeleteAh, camphor! Yes, that would account for the neutral, mineral scent, and the cleansing and calming impact. Thanks for that.
DeleteYour knowledge, Chris, is very impressive. It would be really useful if you had a blog, then folks like me could more easily tap into your knowledge and experience. And I know you like your privacy, but it would be good to meet up for a drink one day. I suspect we'd have much in common. Perhaps on neutral ground, like the George and Pilgrim pub in Glastonbury.
I think Nikhil's Sugandha is a good shout. I just looked at my review, and it is very similar, including the score. I probably have a packet around somewhere so I could do a side by side comparison, but it might take me a while to find it!
DeleteI'm not aware of Maharani, and I'm finding little information about them on the web. They have tube packet incense called Quality Bouquet on sale in South Africa, but I'm not finding much else. IndiaMart returns are very vague, and the Maharani could be the name of the scent rather than the company.
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