Cottage Industries is part of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India. Incense making was set up in 1949 by Mirra Alfassa, The Mother, to provide the ashram with low cost, everyday incense. Surplus was sold to visitors, and by 1973 was being exported. The original 10 fragrances are still available, numbered from 11 to 20, as the Heritage range; and all 10 plus two more modern Cottage incenses are available from the excellent Padma Store in Germany, who ship internationally.
Myrrh is a traditional incense mentioned in the Bible. It is a resin extracted from the commiphora myrrha tree; it is difficult to synthesise, while easy to make into an inexpensive essential oil. Most incense houses will use natural myrrh (including HEM). It has a warm-spicy, balsamic, musky sweet vanilla fragrance. I like it.
The stick has a quiet, shy scent - mildly sweet, perfumed, woody, amber, and floral. It is kind of a pale shadow of a generic masala incense. It is pleasant, and suggests that the scent on the burn will be sweeter than the average Cottage.
Oooh, this is a nice scent on the burn. It has the musky sweetness I associate with myrrh, some amber, some dirty bits which add interest, and could be small amounts of frankincense put in to give depth to the myrrh; frankincense is a popular partner with myrrh as they complement each other so well. It's not a strong scent, which disappoints me. Though, after experiencing some of the overwhelming and pungent Pushkar incenses recently, it could be seen as a lesser fault than being too assertive. As the burn progresses it loses some of its sweetness, and the dry, prickly Cottage signature takes its place. I am not a fan of that dry, prickliness. However, due to my liking for myrrh, I have found this the most enjoyable Cottage I have had.
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