Rathnams – Tanjore

This pack is from my order from Ephra World Shop, late 2022. In addition to the packaging design seen in the title image, there is another design in circulation. Steve has one of the other packs in his review. This one seems to contain 50g and is available in England for only £1.40. My pack is a common one with 15g, which amounted to 12 sticks of 8″ (approximately 20.5cm). I paid €1.65 for it.
My friend Silver sent me a few of her Tanjore sticks out of a yellow pack, which are about an inch longer. In terms of scent, they are nearly identical to me.

Tanjore has a wonderful, enveloping scent, sweet and very floral. It strongly reminds me of my beloved Parimal – Yatra, but compared to this, it is less resinous, more floral, and has a note that reminds me of cosmetic products.
The sweetness is multifaceted. Alongside the floral bouquet, which might include tuberose, I detect powdery, creamy, and balsamic aspects, sometimes more reminiscent of honey or vanilla-like benzoin resin, at other times more like a body lotion. In between, there are a number of fleeting associations that I can’t quite pin down.
Whatever it is that brings this cosmetic aspect to the scent for me, it adds a special freshness to the composition. When this takes the lead, the powdery note becomes part of it in my perception. As soon as the scent shifts and shows more of the warm honey notes, the powdery smell merges with an underlying woodiness and emphasizes this in turn.
The after-smell is present until the next day and close to how Tanjore smells when burning, although the scent becomes more generic over time.

Tanjore is something for lovers of sweet and floral, Indian scents with a lush bouquet. Personally, I still prefer Parimal – Yatra.