Today I am reviewing Shoyeido Honoka incense sticks.
These are one of Shoyeido’s premier ‘low-smoke’ incense sticks.
They are described as:
A fine blend of sandalwood, frankincense, and herbs, specially formulated to produce less smoke.
The combination of sandalwood and frankincense is something I usually enjoy, so let’s start burning this incense and see how it is.
Review
These smell rather nice for a low-smoke incense stick, although, they do produce a little more smoke then some other low-smoke incense sticks which I have tried. I imagine this is because of the frankincense resin.
The first thing I smell is frankincense. This isn’t the Omani fruity type of frankincense, but rather the heavier smelling sort. It seems that any high-notes the frankincense may have had, didn’t end up in the final aroma.
It’s different from Shoyeido’s Incense Road Frankincense incense sticks, which have a similar sort of frankincense aroma, albeit more pure smelling.
What we end up with is a musky sort of frankincense smell, with a classic Chinese herb smell in the background. I think I may even smell a bit of licorice root. Perhaps something a slight bit grassy as well.
