Myrrh and incense are the two most prominent notes of this composition. Mandala opens with a kaleidoscope of spices, creating the feeling of a whopping medical-dipped oud, sweaty, shuddering and sensual. Yet no agarwood was employed in the composition.
The myrrh and frankincense punch out at you simultaneously; for a dizzying moment the mind and nose are overwhelmed. You’d be forgiven for thinking these two notes will be the only things you will smell, such is the kickass joy of the overture. Then then two coalesce into a single high-toned note, steady and unbroken, the odd vegetal bitterness of the myrrh smoothed out by the woody ancient Zen of frankincense. Two materials in fascinating harmony yet still discernible as separate components.
