Happy Hari – King of Amber

This 5mm thick incense stick was part of the Happy Hari sample set from Padma Store, which I bought in 2022. The set contains one stick of each scent (13 in total) and was €14.95. (The price has now risen by €1.)
A 10g pack of King of Amber currently costs €4.25. The burning time per stick is given as 80 minutes.
King of Amber is very similar to King of Myrrh, but, unlike them, it’s a Soft Masala.

King of Amber are surprisingly low in smoke and almost reserved for their diameter, but the latter could also be due to their age. They burn extremely slowly. The aroma is pleasant; ambery, balsamic-sweet, rather dark and deep. It has a subtle spiciness and a very distinct perfume note; floral but unspecific. This note reminds me a little of orthodox incense in general. There is also a slightly resinous note, which is a little better notable in the aftersmell.
I feel like I should like these incense sticks more – after all, they’re a very popular variety from the legendary Happy Hari brand – but every single time I light King of Amber, I write down some variation of “good, but kind of boring.” in my notes.
Since its olfactory character is similar to King of Myrrh, which I compared to HEM‘s Masala Myrrh, I wonder how King of Amber would compare to Masala Amber. It feels a bit like a sacrilege to compare Happy Hari – who have achieved the status of THE Indian quality incense sticks – with HEM; the brand that is virtually synonymous with mass-produced cheap incense sticks. But since HEM‘s Masalas have made me curious anyway, and I still have enough of King of Amber left to compare, I’ll probably commit this crime again, eventually.

I don’t know if it’s perhaps the perfumey note of King of Amber that bothers me because I actually don’t find it unpleasant. It seems, King of Amber is simply an example of “just not quite my cup of tea”.