I recently purchased this Gyokushodo Kaori no Sho incense sample pack along with some other incense sticks which I plan on reviewing soon as well.
The first thing you will notice if you decide to purchase this sample pack is that the packaging is beautiful. There are some more detailed photos below.
Unfortunately, I don’t speak Japanese, so I have no idea what the packaging says, other then the sticker which has the incense names on it, which happens to be in English.
The scroll you see in the photo opens up and has quite a lot of text on it, but again, I have no idea what any of it says.
It contains 13 incense sticks, of 6 different varieties, including:
- Circle – En no Sho (Kyara Blend) – 1 Stick
- Wind – Kaze no Sho (Aloeswood Blend) – 2 Sticks
- Clouds – Kumo no Sho (Aloeswood Blend – 2 Sticks
- Wave – Nami no Sho (Aloeswood Blend) – 2 Sticks
- Woodland – Mori no Sho (Aloeswood Blend) – 3 Sticks
- Bloom – Hana no Sho (Sandalwood Blend) – 3 Sticks
This incense assortment consists of Gyokushodo’s premium incense line and each of these incense sticks are different in their own way. This is a good way to get acquainted to Gyokushodo’s incense.
Gyokushodo Nami no Sho (Wave) Incense Review
This is a very interesting incense stick. I’ve read on ORS that this blend, in addition to aloeswood, sandalwood, spices and reiryo koh, it also contains ambergris, which is a compound formed in the digestive system of sperm whales. I’m not sure if this is true or not, as I’ve also read on BaseNotes that it actually may not contain any. It would be interesting to find out the correct answer to this question, but unfortunately, I don’t have the answer today.
Well, anyway, let’s dive in and see what this incense stick has in store for us.
So, I’m almost about half-way through this incense stick. It is very interesting indeed. It has a pleasant bitter aloeswood base, which is rounded out with some sweet smelling sandalwood. The clove seems to be on the light side and plays it’s role in the background.
I can definitely detect an ambergris-like sort of fragrance here. It’s earthy, salty, and kind of reminds me of the ocean, or marine life. Almost sort of like an ocean-tide. As I mentioned, I’m not sure if ambergris is actually in this incense or not, but I do see why some people may believe there to be.
There is some some sort of sweetness there as well. Mixed with the seemingly yin/yang of the aloeswood and sandalwood, this smells quite delightful. I actually found that the smell of this incense permeates my room rather well. This doesn’t seem as ‘light’ to me as some other Japanese incense styles.
This is an excellent incense stick, and considering it’s unique qualities and ingredients, it’s one you may wish to consider experiencing. I’m actually somewhat sad to see this incense stick burn away.
