I recently received a sample of this Gyokushodo Saimei koh incense.
This is part of their Dento no Kaori line, which translates to: Fragrance of Tradition. It is therefor assumed that this incense line contains traditional-styled fragrances.
It comes in very beautiful packaging with a selection of their other incense sticks.
Supposedly this incense contains Aloeswood, Sandalwood, Camphor, Musk, and Other Ingredients. I find myself wondering if this contains real musk or simply ‘White Musk’. I don’t think I will be able to tell, but let’s give this a burn.
So, I’ve been sitting here ‘listening’ to this incense for a while now. Actually, I burned part of it during another session earlier today.
One of the interesting things about this incense stick is that it is square-cut.
This is unusual and usually a technique which is applied to higher-end Japanese incense. They are not round like your usual sticks.
Review
After lighting this, I get an immediate hit of bitter Vietnamese agarwood.
Sometimes I have troubles telling various agarwoods apart, but this time I did not any such issue. I knew right away it was Vietnamese agarwood. It seems to have a decent quality wood-base and this isn’t something I would personally shake my head at.
The old mountain sandalwood gives it a balancing sweetness and I am very sure there are some spices as well as turmeric in there. Some other reviews I have read seemed to say that the camphor is not so noticeable when lit, but I certainly smell it. It sort of clears and opens up the nasal passages.
There is a certainly an oily-musky element there, but again, I don’t really know if this is real musk or ‘White Musk’. If you have any idea, please let me know in the comments.
I think this smells absolutely delightful and I would love to burn this again.
A very high-quality incense stick, which comes at a premium price.
