Cottage Industries Heritage No. 20 Loban

 

I like the history and the simplicity of  Cottage. Cottage Industries is part of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India.  The history of the Cottage Industries brand is that it was founded in 1949 by Mirra Alfassa, The Mother, to provide the ashram with incense. So the aim was for this to be a modest low cost product for their own use. Surplus was sold to visitors, and by 1973 was being exported. It is sold under the Cottage Industries brand name, though originally and for a while it was under the name of the ashram, Sri Aurobindo. But while I like the history and vibe of Cottage, on the whole I find the scents to be rather simple, dry, sombre, and faint. I moderately like them, though they don't excite me or give me much pleasure. I don't find there's a lot going on, so for me they can be a little boring. Their modern blends are a little more interesting, though I'm not sure they have yet found their incense voice in the modern world. 

While loban is regarded in the West as the Indian term for benzoin, or any tree resin, in reality loban is usually a resin mix involving benzoin and other gums and resins.  Generally, in Indian incense, the Sumatra benzoin would be used in the mix. Loban has been popular in India for various purposes, including drying and fragrancing women's hair.  Sambrani is the South India term for loban. Currently, sambrani cups, such as Guru Vandana, are very popular. I like loban -  it has sufficient complexities to be enjoyed as a single scent. I am feeling positive that I will enjoy this Cottage Loban. After all, there's little to go wrong. Is there? 

The scent on the stick is a little minty with some awareness of milky vanilla - like a vanilla flavoured warm milk drink. There some dry, natural sponge, white chocolate, perfume - floral, possibly jasmine; it's smooth and gently sweet. It's possibly the calmest, smoothest loban I've experienced. It's very nice, well behaved, and clean. 

The scent on the burn is very quiet with modest awareness of benzoin. There is a gentle  awareness of burning, though as this is a charcoal paste, that faint awareness is likely to be only coming from the bamboo stick. And that is not common.  The consensus in the house is that this is faint and smoky. Well, it did go wrong....

Date: Jan 2025    Score: 20 

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Loban / Sambrani

Cottage Industries