Frost-glittering crystals from the earth's clay transform into camphor vapor, into terpenic solvents and green-ethereal resins, my consciousness floats in the air, pleasantly carried. This must be a balm from ancient times. With my eyes closed, I can see these structures, and faded sepia images of the faces of Urdu poets and North Indian princes from the 19th century pass before me. The terpenic-ethereal-fresh coolness is interwoven with warm spice that touches my skin, there are warming wood shavings, sweet cinnamon, and other warm-sweet facets, shimmering between brown and green. I feel oddly light yet grounded.
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It is paradoxical: This ethereal quality is somehow fresh and yet warms! Attar Hina is terpenic-ethereal-fresh and warm at the same time, earthy, spicy, slightly smoky, woody, and delicately sweet. After 2-3 hours, I can distinguish the warmer notes more clearly; cinnamon is definitely noticeable, and there is surely allspice and similar notes present.
But everything is extremely finely blended; it never smells like tiger balm (due to the camphor) or blood sausage (due to the allspice). Attar Hina is a blend of over 100 Indian spices, distilled on a sandalwood base. The sandalwood has both earthy, mulchy aspects as well as the almost sharp, solvent-like facets. The traditional distillation takes several months.
On the homepage, Attar Shamama, Attar Hina, and Attar Musk Amber are referred to as "sibling fragrances" and "three gemstones" that particularly reveal their splendor in colder climates and with dropping temperatures - for me, Shamama would be a tiger's eye with light and dark brown shimmer, Musk Amber would be a green-glowing emerald, and Hina shimmering between brown and green, most intense and long-lasting on me, hence my favorite.
There are stories that the Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib applied Hina Attar to his beard during icy winters in Delhi, and that rich, pampered princes, too weak to cover themselves with a heavy blanket in winter, smeared Attar Hina between the cotton layers of a lighter blanket to keep warm.
I think you're the first one to associate a fragrance with blood sausage 😂. I don't get that close to know what it smells like. Good thing it's not too much.
Dear @ElAttarine 😊
Your reviews of the scents from Gulabsingh Johrimal are so wonderful that I might just have to make a pilgrimage to Delhi someday. 🛫🧳
Thank you for your reference to the homepage with the 3 gemstones!
I'm curious. 😊
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Well described!
Your reviews of the scents from Gulabsingh Johrimal are so wonderful that I might just have to make a pilgrimage to Delhi someday. 🛫🧳