Bhagwan – Royal Myrrh
I received Royal Myrrh as a sample from Eugene, the owner of Bhagwan Incense, with my order in September 2023.
The boxes of all varieties contain 15g, but since they come from different sources and their style varies greatly, the number of pieces contained varies as well. Royal Myrrh are exceptionally thick; the 15g in the package equates to only 6 incense sticks. A pack costs €4.95, making the unit price €0.83. The burning time is 40-45 minutes.
Disclosure: Due to my history and friendly relationship with Eugene, the owner of Bhagwan Incense, I would like to point out that I cannot write reviews of this brand with complete impartiality. I write a lot of the Bhagwan reviews based on samples that were given to me – these are labelled accordingly.
All reviews are unpaid and reflect my honest opinion, but you are welcome to consider them as advertising.
Eugene told me that Royal Myrrh, unlike the Myrrh I ordered back then, is made with Myrrh resin and not with Myrrh oil, and therefore smells very different.
The raw smell of these sticks is a bit odd. They exude a sonorous bitterness, are dry-woody, and have a slightly pungent note that reminds me of shoe polish, bitumen, and iodine.
When lit, they behave similarly to Royal Frankincense, which should be from the same manufacturer: they show a slightly sooty flame, but the smoke production when the flame is extinguished is moderate compared to the thickness of the sticks. I think these are even more restrained than Royal Frankincense.
After extinguishing the flame, the first note that Royal Myrrh presents to me is a distinct bitterness that again evokes associations with rubber and iodine.
In the next few minutes, the scent opens up. The initially intense bitterness transforms into a tart-aromatic accord, underlined by a deep, balsamic, and velvety smoothness. Over time, an equally pronounced balsamic sweetness emerges, rounding out the scent.
Furthermore, I find a dry, woody aspect that also feels slightly earthy. The scent is not resinous to me in the same sense as, for example, frankincense or copal would be, but there is a certain resinous freshness in the scent that occasionally alternates with the sweetness of the composition. Along with the pungent spice of the scent, it sometimes reminds me of cloves and their cool sharpness.
Although the scent profile of Royal Myrrh has a dry, almost astringent aspect, it still evokes associations with bodies of water and cool, moist air in me. Furthermore, it possesses a mystical quality; the sonorous, dark character evokes images of fog creeping over the ground on a full moon night, painting cryptic signs into the dark.
Not really to my taste, but deeply fascinating.