Sital is the incense brand name for Amber Aromatics of Bangalore, which started as a perfume business in 1911, then moved into incense sticks in 1977. They have a second incense factory near Mumbai. Their most famous products is Sital Ratnamala, which I reviewed back in 2013, then again in 2017, when I gave it a very high score. This is a 3-in-1 pack - multipacks are popular in India, and most established incense companies will do at least one multipack. This multipack contains Sital's three "masala" incenses Ekagrata, Anusthan, and Parikrama. The terms refer to various practises in several Indic religions.
The sticks are a standard 9 inches with approx 7 inches of scruffily hand rolled charcoal paste which is now dry and hard. They all have a thin scattering of melnoorva powder. The bamboo splints are thick and crude. One is undyed, which I take to be the Ekagrata, another is dyed green which I take to be the Anusthan, and the third is dusky pink which I take to be the Parikrama, as these colours match the colours of their names and designs on the packet. The scents on the sticks present as perfumed-incense rather than masala, though I have long had a problem with the delineation between these two common incense categories, and came to an understanding at the end of last year that the term "masala" was largely used to indicate an incense that was intended to be both better quality than the producer's standard incense, and to reflect on certain incense traditions, or at least expectations of certain incense traditions. An incense marketed as masala would generally be hand-rolled, and have a coating of melnoorva - a tree-bark powder that stops the sticks from gluing together as they dry. There is a sense that some producers, such as Amber Aromatics in this case, are creating "masala" incense for a market rather than from authentic in house traditions and experiences.
Anyway, the scent on the sticks in all three are quite volatile, heady, and present as synthetic. I say "present", as natural scents, such as a pure essential oil, can be treated with something like an "agarbatti oil", which is usually diethyl phthalate (DEP), in order to make it go further. Either the fragrances here were entirely developed in the laboratory, or they are essentials oils diluted with DEP, such that they end up giving the impression of not being natural.
The sticks are a standard 9 inches with approx 7 inches of scruffily hand rolled charcoal paste which is now dry and hard. They all have a thin scattering of melnoorva powder. The bamboo splints are thick and crude. One is undyed, which I take to be the Ekagrata, another is dyed green which I take to be the Anusthan, and the third is dusky pink which I take to be the Parikrama, as these colours match the colours of their names and designs on the packet. The scents on the sticks present as perfumed-incense rather than masala, though I have long had a problem with the delineation between these two common incense categories, and came to an understanding at the end of last year that the term "masala" was largely used to indicate an incense that was intended to be both better quality than the producer's standard incense, and to reflect on certain incense traditions, or at least expectations of certain incense traditions. An incense marketed as masala would generally be hand-rolled, and have a coating of melnoorva - a tree-bark powder that stops the sticks from gluing together as they dry. There is a sense that some producers, such as Amber Aromatics in this case, are creating "masala" incense for a market rather than from authentic in house traditions and experiences.
Anyway, the scent on the sticks in all three are quite volatile, heady, and present as synthetic. I say "present", as natural scents, such as a pure essential oil, can be treated with something like an "agarbatti oil", which is usually diethyl phthalate (DEP), in order to make it go further. Either the fragrances here were entirely developed in the laboratory, or they are essentials oils diluted with DEP, such that they end up giving the impression of not being natural.
The scent on the stick of the Ekagrata ("one pointed concentration") is rubber, wood, petrol, faint florals, coal dust. The scent on the burn is more pleasant and developed, with the floral notes coming to the fore. There is a nice balance between the light, playful florals, and the light musky woods. It inclines a little too much toward smoky and heady, and the fragrance can at times lose its sharpness and purpose and become simply blurry. It's OK, but is really more a decent perfumed incense than a masala. Yeah likeable. Not quite my sort of incense, but it is drawing me in rather than pushing me away. Hmm - the more I burn this the more I like it, the musky scent builds and builds, becoming more and more my sort of incense. Hmm. Yes. Quite seductive. Score: 38
The scent on the stick of the Parikrama ("orbital revolution around sacred space") is soapy, musky, chalky, floral, pine - loosely attractive in a room freshener kind of way. As with the Ekagrata, this presents both on the stick and the burn as a perfumed incense - a decent perfumed incense, but it does largely present as perfumed and synthetic and slightly plastic, though with earthy touches of musk that feel authentic and natural. I kind of like it in a blunt room freshener way. It's an attractive scent. Not heavenly, but certainly it attracts attention and some measure of interest. As with the Ekagrata, it is smoky and heady and, not aggressive, but somewhat assertive. This doesn't have the balance of light and dark, floral and wood, that the Ekagrata has, nor its playfulness - indeed, it seems fairly simple and monotonous in comparison, but it is still a rather engaging fragrance. Then, as with the Ekagrata, the scent grows and develops and becomes richer, deeper, more earthy and musky, and morphs into a rather engaging patchouli. I like this. After a comment by Chris Burns (below), I have been keyed in to the lavender aspect of this stick, which is - now that I notice it - actually quite strong. Score: 36
The scent on the stick of the Anusthan ("worship with discipline") is marine, floral, green, fresh morning dew lawn, turps, soap, old rubber bands - it's fairly compelling without actually being aesthetically pleasing. It's more a curious scent rather than an attractive one. Not that there's anything unpleasant or off-putting about it, quite the contrary - just that, other than being interesting, the emotional response (my emotional response) is neutral. The burn is a little more pleasant and engaging than the stick, and of the three sticks in this multi-pack, this is the one that, though still presenting as a perfumed incense, comes closest to a masala scent. It is, though, a little hot, a little thin, and a little neutral. It has a mineral quality which puts me in mind of benzoin or loban - or perhaps more clearly, camphor. It's kind of dry and chalky and mineral though with strands of sweet musk and a herby patchouli. As with the other two sticks, it improves (becomes richer, darker, and sweeter - which for me is more attractive) as it burns. It is perhaps the least plastic or perfumed of the three, which I like, but at the same time is less engaging and pleasant. Score: 33
Regarding the Parikraman Steve, the ones in the packs I have are heavily lavender dominant (a sweet candy-like lavender with musk undertones), I wonder if yours are different? All 3 of the ones I've burned have amber seed in them (musk mallow seed), especially the Ekagrata. It can be off-putting if you not a fan of it as the smell lingers for some time. My small negative with this incense is they used a low quality charcoal, and it taints the incense. Happy New Year BTW Steve, enjoying the blog as always, many thanks.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Chris!
DeleteThe lavender comment is interesting. I have lit up a Parikrama just now, and I am getting the soap, florals, pine, etc, that I mentioned, but also, now that you have pointed it out, the lavender aspect quite strongly. I didn't get it straight away. My mind and senses were initially looking elsewhere, but once I had the scent keyed in, it became obvious. Thank you for that. Though, while I like lavender (and we have a lot of lavender in the garden), I kind of like the Parikrama just a tad less now, because the lavender awareness has altered the fragrance balance for me. As it burned down this time, I was not getting quite as much of the musk because the lavender was quite powerful for me. I think this may adjust on future burnings.
I find the musk smell that is common to all three sticks to be the key strength for me. Like you, I felt that the musk scent is authentic and natural, though my assumption, given Amber Aromatics history, is that they would have used an inhouse musk perfume. There is much about the sticks that, for me, present as chemical more than natural, though the musk was the one part that did (does) feel natural.
DeleteI like the sticks. I'm not sure how much they are masala - not that such a description really matters, as it's not the description we enjoy, it's the actual product. And I'm curious to try more Sital.
Absolutely Steve, I was just curious if Sital had changed the formulation as its happened to me before with other brands like Nandita and OM. I love lavender and even grow it indoors, in another life I was one of those cats you see in the garden rolling in the lavender :))
Delete