Shoyeido Daigen-Koh (Great Origin)

I picked this up, with a few other Japanese incenses, from Zen Minded, an Amazon seller, for around £3.00. It is a little smoky and harsh - rather earthy like Tibetan incense. I prefer my incense to be softer and more fragrant. This contains sandalwood, cinnamon, and Borneo camphor, along with other spices. The sticks are dried ingredients extruded into thin sticks with a pleasant deep purple colour. The sticks easily snap into pieces so you can have a shorter burn if you wish.

This is not really my thing. Too sharp and hot and spiky. I'm getting little sense of the named fragrances.  I like sandalwood, and I can't pick it up. Cinnamon is an interesting ingredient, and there's maybe a sense of that in the spicy warmth, but it's not the comforting, yummy aroma I associate with cinnamon when used in baking. Camphor I do get - slightly menthol and medicinal.

This is from Shoyeido's Daily Incense range, and is the cheapest of that range, so I assume this is supposed to be the less refined and less heavenly stuff; and true, it does smell like some of the lower end cheap everyday incenses that are available which I tend to keep in box to use either to keep away the flies in the outhouse, or to burn in the toilet, and that's the box where these are going.


Date: July 2017   Score: 17

  

I have a batch of Shoyeido samples to work through - so I thought I'd start by reacquainting myself with this lower end Daigen-Koh. I still find it harsh with little to reward the sharp, hot notes.  Spicy, yes, woody, yes. Little else of interest going on. This is a sombre incense, and it feels as though it is more ritual or medicinal incense than aesthetic. Cleansing, but offering little else.  I guess I can say my nose has opened up - it's as though I've just snorted menthol - my nostrils are open, cold, and a little tingly. I also have a slight headache, though the incense was burning a couple of feet away. Packs quite a powerful punch for such a little stick. The room is cleansed and throbbing.  A cold winter's walk crunching though the snow in a pine forest. Hmmm. 

Date: Jan 2022   Score: 22

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Japanese incense

Sandalwood