Suraj Brand – Mysore Sandal Bathi

I recently bought this slim 10g pack at SatNam. It cost €1.49 and contained 12 sticks – they are very thinly rolled. The burning time is not specified, but it should be about 30 minutes.
The SatNam shop states that they are from ‘Maharishi AyurVeda’, but the company name on the packaging is B.V. Aswath Lal & Bros (Bangalore). I suspect it refers to the company Maharishi Ayurveda Europe B.V., from which I have also bought other incense sticks. I assume they are just an importer.

The raw smell of Mysore Sandal Bathi is like an antique solid wood cabinet from my grandmother. Not actually musty, but ‘old’.
They are of very mixed quality; the smell when burning varies greatly. Right after lighting, they all smell very smoky, but it gets better when the smoke is distributed in the air. The ‘old’ smell remains, but significantly weakened.
Some have a very nice sweetness, honey-like and very warm. It’s like when you can smell the scent of a blooming tree from afar.
The smell is soft when diluted, and you can recognize the sandalwood. They have an interesting, spicy note, known to me from Kesar (saffron) incense sticks. Close to the smoke, the smell is scratchy, slightly pungent, and a bit unpleasant. Unfortunately, there are some sticks that are not or barely sweet at all and instead have a strong pungent note that reminds me of petroleum or car tires.

I find the scent of the “good” Mysore Sandal Bathi unexpectedly attractive. They possess a ‘simple beauty’ that attracts me surprisingly strong. I have never used up a pack of incense sticks as quickly as these.
However, the drastic differences in smell are really irritating and leave me torn. Nevertheless, I would buy another pack if the opportunity arose.

The backside