Penzance look/feel

[rakovsky]

That’s a great description, thanks!

I’m very familiar with the smell (I attend a traditional Latin mass, often times the low mass just after the high, so the incense smell is still there!)

I suppose I have never tried to connect incense to the smoke in my mind: will give that a shot.

Out of incense blends that I tried, a couple types of descriptors come to mind related to that quality, which I put below from most incenselike to least.

Spoiler: My personal incense descriptors list.

1. Actual incense as an ingredient: Indonesian Rhubarb Incense tobacco has that. I don't know if it's actually frankincense or Styrax, but either are incense resins.
2. Oily in a way that solidly overlaps with incense: Margate does this. It's like cologne.
3. Sandalwood/Nag Champa: Grousemoor plug
4. Floral: Two cases are Northwoods and Ennerdale. BUT for me they were soapy, due to my palate, not incensey. Many just sense them as floral.
5. Charcoal, the charcoal used to burn incense : My Mix 965
6. A standard Latakia: barnwood, horse, leather, old hay, and/or vinegary. Star of the East is an example of this, and for me, these notes are certainly not what I would call "incense-like".

Depending on the reviewer, any of those categories' blends might be labeled by the reviewer as incenselike.
Out of them, #1-3 I think could legitimately be described that way, whereas with #4 it feels borderline, and for #5-6 I would not use incense as a description.

I feel that it's alittle off topic, but eager to get your feedback in PMs or another thread.

 

[starrynight]

Out of incense blends that I tried, a couple types of descriptors come to mind related to that quality, which I put below from most incenselike to least.

Spoiler: My personal incense descriptors list.

1. Actual incense as an ingredient: Indonesian Rhubarb Incense tobacco has that. I don't know if it's actually frankincense or Styrax, but either are incense resins.
2. Oily in a way that solidly overlaps with incense: Margate does this. It's like cologne.
3. Sandalwood/Nag Champa: Grousemoor plug
4. Floral: Two cases are Northwoods and Ennerdale. BUT for me they were soapy, due to my palate, not incensey. Many just sense them as floral.
5. Charcoal, the charcoal used to burn incense : My Mix 965
6. A standard Latakia: barnwood, horse, leather, old hay, and/or vinegary. Star of the East is an example of this, and for me, these notes are certainly not what I would call "incense-like".

Depending on the reviewer, any of those categories' blends might be labeled by the reviewer as incenselike.
Out of them, #1-3 I think could legitimately be described that way, whereas with #4 it feels borderline, and for #5-6 I would not use incense as a description.

I feel that it's alittle off topic, but eager to get your feedback in PMs or another thread.

Wow! You are into incense!

 

[rakovsky]

Wow! You are into incense!

You don't know the half of it!

 

[rakovsky]

I’m very familiar with the smell (I attend a traditional Latin mass, often times the low mass just after the high, so the incense smell is still there!)

I get the impression that Roman Catholic incense tends to be different than the incenses used in Eastern Orthodox Churches. I don't know if it's just my mental associations between the two services. I'm guessing that there is overlap though. Like a company could sell the same myrrh and frankincense blend to both a RC parish and an EO one.
How would you describe RC incense, and do you get an impression of how it's different than EO incense?

For me, Fr. Dempsey had a light lavendar side to it that reminded me of part of RC Church incense. But I could just be imagining it due to the name "Fr. Dempsey." I remember specifically that at least one Roman Catholic said that Catholic incenses include a lavendar blend.

You are the OP, so please let me know if I'm getting too off topic for you here.

 

[Terry Lennox]

It turns very dark with age. I have a jar from a bag I bought in 2013 that started out like what you picture. Now it is very dark having been in a jar that I dig into about 2-3 times a year. It is actually now past it's prime. It has lost a lot of its flavor and punch. I would advise people to smoke it within ten years. Within five years even. Latakia and Balkan blends do not age as well as Virginia's and VaPers.

Editing to add: the reason mine has gone past its prime is because I open the jar periodically to fish out a bowl full. The oxygen I introduce each time is hastening the process. If you have the new round tins you'll be better off.

 

[starrynight]

I get the impression that Roman Catholic incense tends to be different than the incenses used in Eastern Orthodox Churches. I don't know if it's just my mental associations between the two services. I'm guessing that there is overlap though. Like a company could sell the same myrrh and frankincense blend to both a RC parish and an EO one.
How would you describe RC incense, and do you get an impression of how it's different than EO incense?

For me, Fr. Dempsey had a light lavendar side to it that reminded me of part of RC Church incense. But I could just be imagining it due to the name "Fr. Dempsey." I remember specifically that at least one Roman Catholic said that Catholic incenses include a lavendar blend.

You are the OP, so please let me know if I'm getting too off topic for you here.

Well now that is interesting… I do remember an OCA parish in St Paul we attended years ago, and a Antiochian EO church near Portland. Both the incense seemed “meatier” or thicker in EO. I can’t say I’ve noticed a lavender edge in RC though: but will report back.

Father Dempsey has been on my radar, and I’m expecting a tin of Presbyterian which I am very excited to try: that should be pretty high in orientals.

 

[starrynight]

It turns very dark with age. I have a jar from a bag I bought in 2013 that started out like what you picture. Now it is very dark having been in a jar that I dig into about 2-3 times a year. It is actually now past it's prime. It has lost a lot of its flavor and punch. I would advise people to smoke it within ten years. Within five years even. Latakia and Balkan blends do not age as well as Virginia's and VaPers.

Editing to add: the reason mine has gone past its prime is because I open the jar periodically to fish out a bowl full. The oxygen I introduce each time is hastening the process. If you have the new round tins you'll be better off.

Yeah, I’m about the same pace as you when it comes to Penzance—just a few times a year.

 

[rakovsky]

Well now that is interesting… I do remember an OCA parish in St Paul we attended years ago, and a Antiochian EO church near Portland. Both the incense seemed “meatier” or thicker in EO. I can’t say I’ve noticed a lavender edge in RC though: but will report back.

Father Dempsey has been on my radar, and I’m expecting a tin of Presbyterian which I am very excited to try: that should be pretty high in orientals.

Right, my idea of EO incense is like thicker oiler incense than RC incense. There are a couple common EO incenses like Damascus Rose and Byzantium, and Mount Athos in Greece makes incense. Plain frankincense is sometimes used.

Three Kings seems to be one of the more common sellers of incense to RC churches. I got their Temple of Solomon blend and liked it, and their blends on their website have neat enough themes that I am tempted to go on a sampling splurge: Rafael is the name of the archangel in ancient Jewish tradition who brought prayers to God. Eden, Angelus, Cathedral, David, Palestine, Domine, and the individual magi blends are also cool blend names.

I recall reading that frankincense, myrrh, and lavendar are common in RC incense, and I get that mental association myself with it.
Lavendar incense is sold on the Lourdes website:

Lavender Grain Incense 10g | Lourdes Giftshop

Check out our Lavender Grain Incense 10g selection in our religious shop. Fast and secure shipping worldwide.

www.lourdes-giftshop.com

However I read that RC instructions prescribe certain incenses for certain holidays, so lavendar might not be a necessary ingredient per se.

I really like the idea of the tabernacle blend in Ex. 30:34. It's a basis for church incense. However we don't directly seem to celebrate the OT holidays in church I think, so I don't know if you would get an instruction saying to use an OT blend.

Anyway, Fr. Dempsey has a delicateness that reminds me of specifically RC incense like you were talking about in your comparison to EO incense. Fr. Dempsey was a real priest for whom Kramer's made their blend. Other people describe Fr. Dempsey as incenselike. For me, the only incense part was what I perceived as a light lavendar sweet faint floral note. But other people might not take it as lavendar. In other words, I interpreted a faint note as lavendar incense, but it could just be my subjective imagining. The note was strong enough that even if I kept smoking the blend over and over, I would still get the note, but it was weak enough that I could be off the mark in naming it.

 

[rakovsky]

Wow! You are into incense!

StarryNight,
I made a thread about incense blends here:

Which Are the Most Incenselike Blends? ⚗️⛪🪔🥢💭 :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion

I love the smell of church incense. Lemony Frankincense and the oily pine sap smells of Myrrh and Styrax Benzoin are three of the most common ingredients in church incense. By comparison, the South and East Asian traditions often use Nag Champa and sandalwood. I smoked 9 blends out of about 30...

pipesmagazine.com

I would be interested in your opinions.

 

[RL Bucktails]

That's good to know!
I value that you can make that distinction, because I'm into incense blends, and collected a list of blends that people say are like incense. Some of them like Margate reminded me of incense a lot, and others like Gaslight did not.

LJ Peretti Tashkent has an incense vibe to me.

 

[rakovsky]

LJ Peretti Tashkent has an incense vibe to me.

Bucktails, Thank you for replying and mentioning it.
Have you tried any of the blends that I mentioned on my thread about incenselike blends?

 

[ron123]

It's been forever since I've been able to buy a tin, but the first thing I noticed is that it's mostly loose with crumbled flakes. When did it stop coming in layered flakes?

 

[quantumboy]

I still have several jars from 2009-2011, and the tobacco is black as night. Still in great shape, and of course I'm carefully rationing it!