Shroff Channabasappa Sandal Flora

 

Another sandalwood incense in the Shroff "dry" masala sample pack from Padma Store. The "Flora" in the name, along with related terms such as fluxo and supreme, is not quite easy to pin down. It may relate to Sri Sai Flora Fluxo Incense, a successful and influential oil-rich incense which was first sold over 50 years ago, so that the term is used to refer to aspects of that incense, which is thick, heavy, and moist with oils; though in my experience the term is also used for incenses which are dry (as here) and thin. It could refer to floral, indicating that there are floral notes in the scent. I noted floral notes in the Mysore Sandal and the White Sandal (which I first reviewed two years ago, and which I have just revisited as there are a couple of sticks in the sample pack); though, looking back at all my reviews of Shroff, it seems that floral notes are present in all the Shroff incenses I've tried - such that it might even be seen as a defining characteristic. If Shroff are labelling this as "Flora" to draw attention to the floral notes, then I would be expecting rather more floral notes than that typically found in Shroff. If the floral notes are standard for Shroff, then I assume the Flora term would be intended to draw attention to a richness of oils in the stick. 

The sticks are a roughly average size and thickness - hand-rolled onto hand-cut bamboo splints with ends dyed pink. The melnoorva powder covering the paste is a sandy dusky pink - quite attractive. The scent is what I am now feeling is the signature Shroff floral supported by a light, creamy sandalwood. The floral is light, delicate, jasmine and very fine rose with touches of spice and a prickle of lambs wool which I generally associate with halmaddi. It's attractive. 

I burn the stick upright (ignore the photo above - I tend at the moment to take a batch of photos of incense I'm about to review, so I don't need to clear a space to take a photo each time I want to do a review - I have experimented with burning upside down, and find the experience to be poor, with loss of top notes; my preferred method now is to burn upright for both reviews and everyday burning).  The scent is soft, light, gentle, floral (slightly more rose than on the stick), gently spicy, with the sandalwood coming along in support. This tends to follow the pattern of the other Shroff dry sandalwood incenses I've been burning. There isn't a lot between them. This is spicier and darker perhaps, and with a heavier floral - rose rather than jasmine, than the others, though is generally in the same ball park. 

Date: July 2024    Score:  35

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Shroff Incense

Reviewed on Rauchfahne

Reviewed on ORS

Sandalwood