Pure Incense – Mysore Sandal Masterclass (2022)

At the end of 2021, on my first incense exchange, I received a set of Pure incense sticks, including samples from Conniosseur Sandalwood and an earlier vintage of this Mysore Sandal Masterclass. I (and Max, my best friend and admin here) were so in love with the latter that I ordered a 100g pack directly from Pure in England through the friend who had also given me the samples. I then shared these with Max. (For those who have been reading my blog for a while, these are also the “Mysore Sandal” that I refer to in the review of Shroff – Mysore Sandal.)
There are also smaller packs, but they are more expensive in comparison. The 100g cost the equivalent of €58.20 at the time and there were around 80 sticks, which makes a unit price of around €0.73.
They are delivered in a simple paper bag, as shown above. I actually find that quite charming, even though the boxes from Pure are really damn stylish.

For storage, I transferred the sticks into a glass vial.

According to the description (unlike the Sandalwood from the Connoisseur line), Mysore Sandal Masterclass are made not only with real sandalwood oil, but also with sandalwood powder in the masala mixture.

I’ve been putting off this review for ages now because I think these incense sticks are fantastic, though I’m still at a loss for words. I think to myself, “I can’t write a three-line review for such good incense sticks!”, but I’m afraid that’s what it essentially boils down to:

The scent of Mysore Sandal Masterclass is velvety-soft and milky, with the intoxicating sweetness of Mysore sandalwood, as I know it from my “holy” piece of sandalwood.
It has a basic “Pure Incense” character, but still stands out clearly from the sandalwood scents I know from other Pure lines (and other scents produced by HMS). I also find a certain vanilla note in these, but the sandalwood oil clearly plays the first fiddle, in combination with a woody-powdery softness and depth that the sandalwood used in the dough seems to bring with it.
The smell never becomes unpleasant to me, but the scent still benefits immensely from a sufficient supply of fresh air or the ability to spread out over a larger area to open up. Only then does the full volume of this potent fragrance reveal itself in all its lush, beguiling glory.

These incense sticks are only brought out on special occasions.