Shoyeido Kyoto Autumn Leaves Incense Stick Review

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Today I am going to be reviewing Shoyeido Kyoto Autumn Leaves incense sticks.

The product description says:

Created over 30 years ago to evoke the autumnal splendor of Kyoto’s Arashiyama district, Kyoto Autumn Leaves is a true classic within the world of incense. Its poetic blend of high quality cinnamon and sandalwood perfectly captures the mood and beauty of a fall day.

Here is the ingredient list for Shoyeido Kyoto Autumn Leaves incense sticks.

Sandalwood, clove, patchouli, benzoin, and spices.

Kyoto Autumn Leaves Fragrance Review

So, this is an interesting incense stick. It definitely reminds me of Japan.

Despite this being a blend of primarily sandalwood and spices, I imagine this being what one might smell on an Autumn day in Japan. The sandalwood notes are clear, the spices are underneath, the benzoin adds depth, and the patchouli is noticeable as well, although it is fairly light in comparison to the rest of the fragrance notes.

One thing I always find interesting about some Japanese incense, particular Shoyeido’s, is their use of patchouli. Whenever I burn a Shoyeido incense stick which features patchouli as a key ingredient, I experience this playful quality where the patchouli seems to ‘ebb and flow’ throughout the incense smoke. It’s almost as if the patchouli is pushing and pulling on my senses, as the scent comes and goes.

I’m not sure exactly how they were able to blend these ingredients and make them smell how they do, but this is a very natural scent which I believe most people would find accurate to the description.

I may have some praises for this incense stick, but it has some faults too.

While the price isn’t unreasonable for this specific product line, the scent is fairly light. Although I only burned one of these incense sticks in order to write this review, I could picture people wanting to burn 2 or 3 of these at once. The fragrance is, in my opinion, quite nice, but simply light.

It does have a slight bit of that ‘burning’ odor, however, I think that actually adds to the theme of this incense stick. Without that quality, I think it would smell less like Autumn, so I believe it was intentional. While I personally enjoy the scent, I could imagine somebody finding this ‘dry’.

Main image was taken from Wikipedia.