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I actually received these Baieido Tokusen Kobunboku incense sticks as a sample alongside some other Japanese incense which I purchased to do reviews on.
You’ll be able to read some of those other reviews shortly, as soon as I finish them, but today’s review is for Baieido Tokusen Kobunboku incense sticks.
Main Ingredients: Sandalwood, Aloeswood, and Other Herbs
Length: 5.5″
Burn Time: Approximately 30 minutes.
Company: Baieido
Apparently the name of this incense formulation has special meaning:
“Tokusen” means Excellent, “Ko” means Nice, “Bun” means Elegant, “Boku” means Wood or Tree.
As most of you would know, Japanese incense can be quite expensive, however, these are in the lower-cost range and comprise of an Indonesian aloeswood blend.
Review
Considering the price, these smell pretty nice. The first thing I smelled was the wood notes, although, there obviously isn’t a lot of spicy aloeswood in this formulation and something is telling me some of the scent comes from oils.
Regardless, the wood creates an inviting atmosphere for the tantalizing Chinese herbs to play upon. There’s a bit of a yin and yang thing going on, as the warming Indonesian aloeswood and spices battle against the cooling aspect of the Chinese herbs. I believe I smell a reasonable amount of cinnamon as well.
Overall, it’s a very enjoyable incense stick in the low-cost Japanese incense stick. I do wish there was more aloeswood in the blend, but that may be expecting to much, considering the low price of the incense sticks and the soaring cost of quality aloeswood.
