Incense in The Wind: Halmaddi

The tree from which halmaddi resin is extracted

Halmaddi is a resin, like amber, frankincense and myrrh, which comes from a tree. As with other such resins, it is sticky when first extracted, then becomes brittle when dried, which makes it useful for binding and then sealing fragrant ingredients when making incense using the masala method of mixing crushed and dried fragrant ingredients with a sticky binding agent.

Though it was traditionally used as a binding agent rather than as a scent ingredient, it does has a scent of its own which in the West is associated with Satya Nag Champa, a very popular incense. The association is so strong that some consider halmaddi essential to a nag champa scent - indeed, some feel that nag champa = halmaddi. Nag champa, however, is a scent based on a flower, the magnolia champaca, or champak tree, from where it gets the "champa" part of its name. There are some Indian incenses which are just called Champa, and these are almost always based on plumeria or frangipani, a fragrant flowering shrub, rather than the champaca of Nag Champa, which is a plant in the magnolia family.

Champa (or frangipani)

There is a school of thought that a Nag Champa incense would be a combination of plumeria and sandalwood, and I once followed that line of thinking myself, though I am more inclined now to think that the original scents were different - Champa being frangipani, and Nag Champa being magnolia. Sandalwood being a common base ingredient in traditional masala incense, its inclusion in a recipe does not seen to me to be significant.

There is an association of halmaddi with traditional, artisan incense makers who make masala incense as opposed to perfume-dipped incense, and this makes sense, as halmaddi would not be used in perfume-dipped incense making.

The halmaddi resin comes from the ailanthus triphysa tree, which is mainly grown for its wood, which burns well, so is used for match sticks. Because halmaddi extraction damages the tree, and so threatens the wood crop, in the 1990s the Indian government protected the trees, and producers used other binding ingredients. The government has since relaxed its restrictions so production of halmaddi has increased. Incense aimed at the Western market may mention that it contains halmaddi on the packets.

It is frustrating that there is so little authoritative information about Indian incense. I have several books and texts, but the hard factual information in them is quite minimal. What I have learned, though, is that halmaddi is traditionally used as a binding agent, and that use is these days largely taken over by gum Arabic, which is easier to obtain, and has the benefit of being a neutral aroma, so the incense maker is free to design a scent without impact from the binder. However, there are some traditional makers who continue to use halmaddi as a binding agent, and some recently formulated incenses contain halmaddi purely for its fragrance.

Halmaddi is produced in the same way that frankincense, myrrh, and amber are made - by cutting the tree, and collecting the gum that the tree oozes. All these resins behave the same way - they are moist and pliable when fresh, then harden over time. Gum arabic is also a tree resin, though, unlike the others, is odourless. The tree resins most famous for their scent are frankincense, myrrh, and amber. Halmaddi is not as famous for its scent. Though the scent is pleasant, it is not as profound and appealing as the others. I have some halmaddi (resin from the Ailanthus triphysa tree) in a jar, and people who have smelled it feel that the scent is neutral to mildly pleasant. The scent is mildly menthol and camphor, faintly like Tiger Balm. It is earthy, a bit like clay, warm wool, and beeswax. The scent when heated in my burner is warm, fragrant, mostly neutral though mildly sweet, mild camphor, floral with suggestions of frangipani (mild citrus), slightly peppery, warm wool, soft rubber, gym shoes, aged wooden floor. Very pleasant, though not divine. Not a scent to grab the attention and get people trading in it for thousands of years as they have done with frankincense and myrrh.

Here is a video made about Haria, in which it is shown how halmaddi is used as a binder and carrier of the fragrant ingredients in the incense. The owner says there is no scent to halmaddi itself, though I found there is a scent - mild and neutral, but certainly a scent.

Ailanthus triphysa is the tree most associated with the term "halmaddi". There are, however, other trees which produce halmaddi, same as there are a range of trees which produce amber, myrrh, and frankincense. The Mothers Indian Incense use the resin from Mimusops Elengi L. Or perhaps not the resin, but a paste made from the crushed bark, leaves and seeds of the tree, blended with honey. My research indicates that those parts of the tree are used for their fragrance, but I've not yet seen that the resin is tapped and used.

In the West, during the period when the quality of Satya incense declined, it was thought that that was due to a decline in use of halmaddi. It is true that the quality of Satya incense in the West declined, and it is true that use of halmaddi declined due to restrictions on harvesting the halmaddi tree for the gum. And putting these two events together resulted in the assumption that they were linked. And, yes, that is plausible and understandable. However, my own researches have indicated that the main reason for the decline in quality of Satya at that time was due to the two brothers splitting up, and the Satya incense being imported into the West (mainly into America) was being created by the older brother, Nagaraj, who had split from the younger brother, with synthetic perfumes to keep costs down.

Some people have said that halmaddi is a substance that attracts moisture, and so a flora style stick is wet because of the halmaddi. Halmaddi, like all tree resins, such as frankincense and gum Arabic, are hygroscopic. So is any natural material, such as plants, leaves, flowers, and especially sawdust and charcoal, which are very absorbent, and make up the majority of any incense. That's why it is important to store incense in a dry place. Halmaddi, as with other tree resins, hardens with exposure to the air. That is the purpose of the resin. It is there to protect the tree from losing moisture when it has been cut. Now, we all know that tree resins get hard and brittle - we know about amber, for example; and those of us who have bought halmaddi know that it behaves the same as other tree resins and goes hard. So shut the fuck up already about halmaddi being the thing that is responsible for incense paste being soft or damp. It's not. It's gotta be some kind of liquid scent such as agarbatti oil / DEP.

*Equinox Aromatics

Some Top Scents Containing Halmaddi