Ansaam Incenses Mini Galaxy Sticks Oud Roots

 

I've recently been exploring some Native American incenses which have a format similar to Fred Soll's "Resin on a Stick", and I noted that the style has been taken up by some Indian incense makers for sale to the same Western market as the Native American sticks, such as Soul Sticks Aztec Incenses (made in India) copying Inca Aromas (made in Brazil).  These Mini Galaxy Sticks, made in Egypt by Ansaam Incenses of  Cairo,  initially reminded me of those Native American "Resin on a Stick" type incenses, but thinking more about it, these are more like dhoop on a stick, and I think "Dhoop on a Stick" would be a better description. 

These sticks are quite chunky, around 1/2 inch thick, and are difficult to light. The surface of the stick catches easily, and the stick is soon engulfed in flame which is travelling down the stick, and there's plenty of black smoke, but the dhoop itself is not lighting up. I applied a flame, blew, more flame, more blowing, repeating until the whole of the top was caught and glowing. The scent on the stick is not attractive. Some mild plastic volatility, something earthy, faintly herbal, a bit of old strawberry jam. There has clearly been no attempt to produce a "cool throw" to impress or delight customers on first handling the stick. You have to light it up to get at the incense fragrance proper. 

Improvised holder

The stick does produce a superb column of soft silvery grey smoke. For its size, the smoke and the scent is not intrusive in a medium sized room, though I wouldn't be comfortable leaving it to burn in the same room for the three hours claimed burning time. The scent is pleasant, though waves in and out. It's mostly sweet and floral - drifting toward rose and jasmine, though mostly rose. I'm not getting much oud nor much root. There's a vague ashy note, which is probably from the burning of the stick in the centre. But there's no actual depth or base notes from the perfume noticeable to me. It remains on the candy sweet, sort of sherbet or Turkish delight, notes, so I find it a little one dimensional. But that's just me - I'm not a big fan of sweet, floral scents, so I would find them rather more boring than a musky or woody fragrance.  It does linger sweetly for some hours.

Date: Jan 2025   Score: 31

***