Today I am reviewing Gyokushodo’s Saishu koh incense sticks.
This is another incense stick from Gyokushodo’s Dento no Koari incense assortment.
These are very artistic incense blends from a traditional incense manufacturer.
Main Ingredients: Aloeswood, Lysimachiae herba (Reiryo–koh), Clove, Benzoin, Borneo Camphor, and Others.
Length: 5.5″
Burn Time: approx. 30 min.
Company: Gyokushodo
This incense blend uses a good quality aloeswood and combines it with traditional Japanese incense ingredients.
Review
This is the second time I have burned this incense formulation.
The first thing I smelled is agarwood, although it does not have the depth found in some higher-end varieties. Alongside it, is a certain muskiness, alongside an airy, grassy element from the reiryo-koh. The clove seems to poke it’s head out once in a while, but doesn’t smell as if it’s in constant force. It has a bit of sweetness to it as well.
Overall, this is a decent incense stick, and if you are looking for a comparatively cheaper agarwood & reiryo-koh incense stick, this may be worth your time.
That being said, this blend would smell much, much better with a slightly deeper agarwood fragrance profile, but that’s often the case nowadays, with the rising prices of quality agarwood. In it’s current state, it’s a very balanced aroma, and in my opinion, perhaps a bit to much so.
