Shoyeido Magnifiscents Gems/Jewels Sampler

A Shoyeido sampler from Padma Store, Germany. Very short, thin dhoop sticks in a plastic holder to protect them. Shoyeido was established in Japan in 1705, and is one of the oldest incense companies in the world. They have several stores across Japan, and one in America - in Boulder, Colorado. Shoyeido has a good reputation among incense enthusiasts, especially American. 

The list

Shoyeido's dhoop sticks are wood based. Most Japanese incense is wood based  - mainly sandalwood and agarwood. The more expensive incenses are more likely to use agarwood, while the more everyday incenses will just use sandalwood. The ingredients in Japanese dhoops are similar to Indian incense - there are binders and burners, such as the bark of the Machillus Tree (or Tabunoki), which is called tabuko in Japan and makko in both Japan and India, and spices, woods, resins, herbs, etc. Where Japanese incense mainly differs is that in India incense burning is a casual everyday multi-use activity by the majority of the population, while in Japan it is a more occasional and more considered activity, and only used by around 40% of the population. The Japanese incense market is worth around $20 million a year, while the Indian incense market is worth nearly $1 billion a year. Given that the population of India is considerably larger than that of Japan  (India 1.4 billion - Japan 125 million), with a smaller available proportion of the population (40%) it can be seen that Japanese incense makers need to focus on quality rather than quantity in order to make a decent profit. The Japanese incense buyer is looking for and expecting quality, and is prepared to pay a higher price for it.  As such the ingredients for Japanese incense are better quality and more expensive, and there are fewer cheaper ingredients or shortcuts used. Indian incense is often cheap and functional - the joss stick format of a bamboo stick to hold the fragrant ingredients enables incense to be robust and easily used; it is convenient and useful with the bamboo holding the incense together and also proving a useful holder which can be placed casually around the house in plant pots or convenient holes without the need for a special incense holder. With so much casual, everyday Indian incense there is some uncertainty when purchasing as to if the incense will be good or poor quality. However, with Japanese incense there is more confidence that the product will be good quality, and created with a more considered appreciation of the fragrance than most everyday Indian incense. 

These are delicate and deliciously scented sticks - more refined and attractive than my prior experience of Shoyeido, which was the lower end everyday Daigen-Koh - a rather harsh, Tibet-like incense. These are Shoyeido's Jewel or Gem series - originally four scents, but now increased to eight.  They are available from Shoyeido's American website and store; though I can't find it offered for sale on the Japanese site.  

 "Original Gems"

Diamond contains sandalwood, frankincense, cinnamon, ginger lily, and patchouli, and represents "Power". The stick is a greyish brown or tan colour, fairly neutral. The scent on the stick is delicate and perfumed - quite sweet (which always attracts me) with an awareness of vanilla and a warm spice more like cumin than cinnamon. I'm not really getting the scent of the named fragrance ingredients. 

Though very thin, on the burn it produces a little more of a dry smoky scent compared to fragrance than I was expecting - I assume this is due to fewer fragrant ingredients in proportion to the binders and burners. The scent on the stick is lovely. The scent on the burn is a little thin and ordinary, with little real awareness of the stated fragrant ingredients. Though small, it does gently inform the room - just warming it up in a subtle, understated manner with that vanilla and cumin/cinnamon.  I think subtle as well as warm and sweetly pleasant are the key words here. Prices are generally around $/£5 to $/£9 for 9g (30 sticks): Sunnyside $5; Amazon £8;  Violey €8.   Score: 26 

 

Ruby contains cinnamon, sandalwood, and patchouli, and represents "Strength".  The stick colour is a dusky sandy rose. The scent is kinda rose like, though that might be suggestive due to the colour. I'm getting rose, butcher's blood, and warm mineral with a touch of school rubber. It's an OK scent, though nothing special - I'd be just as happy smelling a freshly sharpened pencil. Well, actually I'd be happier - I LOVE the smell of a freshly sharpened pencil! 

As with the Diamond, the scent on the burn is a tad smoky, suggesting that the formulation is budget minded, and perhaps more intended for casual burning than for ko-do - the "way of scent". But the scent does make itself felt more than the Diamond. It's a warm scent, warmer and less sweet than Diamond. Delicate and pleasant spice - like a milky cinnamon. I liked this a little more than the Diamond, though it was hard to get to grips with the scent on such a thin, short stick - it was over before it had hardly begun; pause for thought and the stick has burned away. The sampler feels more like a tease than a proper sampler.  Score: 31 

 

 

Emerald contains sandalwood, cinnamon, clove. The colour of the stick is a clay green, and the scent is very spicy - rather more spicy than just cinnamon and clove, this smells like chip shop curry. There's also a touch of mint and something floral, hovering between rose and jasmine. It's a curiously pleasant scent. 

The curry aroma remains when the stick is lit up, though there are some intriguing tangerine fruit notes mingled in. Some mild herby nettles, perhaps some marijuana.  It's more of an interesting scent than a pleasing or aesthetic one - however, I tend to like interesting scents. The scent is kind of a warm grey, loose watery brown colour (if you think of scents in colours, as I often do), and is generally neutral - not comforting or uplifting, just sort of there. Score: 27 

 

 

Amethyst is the last of the "original" set of the Jewel series, and represents "Balance". It contains sandalwood, cinnamon, and spikenard (Nardostachys jatamansi - a plant in the honeysuckle family). It has a sweet musky scent on the stick, white chocolate, tea and herbs also, but mostly it is sweet, musky, sensual, and earthy from the spikenard essential oil. As far as I'm aware, this is my first experience of spikenard, and I love it. This is a precious, ancient, sacred, and adored oil. I've just ordered some! It could replace patchouli as my favourite essential oil to wear.  

Added: The company produce an Amethyst Gift Set in which they say that the ingredients are "sandalwood, cinnamon, and saussurea".  Saussurea, also called snow lotus, is a plant that grows in the Himalayas along the India-Tibet border. Costus root, which was traded with the Romans, was believed to come from that plant, but is now believed to come from Dolomiaea costus, which grows in South Asia and China, and is made into an essential oil. A search for "saussurea oil" will result in costus root oil. The spikenard oil I ordered has arrived, and it does have a musky earthy scent reminiscent of patchouli - the oil I have is not as sweet as the scent on the Amethyst, and is more earthy and grassy, though does appear to be the same. Costus root oil is reported as also being musky, but more woody and animal like, and is compared to wet dog. I'm not that curious as to buy any! 

Though a little sharp, the scent on the burn is the closest to the scent on the stick of the four samples I have burned so far. The scent is dominated by the spikenard, and I'll certainly be on the lookout for other incense that uses spikenard. What a yummy oil it is! The company do say it is one of their more popular incenses, and I can see why. I'd like to experience it with a decent sized incense stick - these little thin sticks are just a little too lacking in an enveloping experience - it's easy to forget the incense is there it makes such a small impact. If the breeze is in the wrong direction, then the scent is gone. Great for those who enjoy an understated and subtle scent experience, but personally I prefer a bit more oomph. At least with a proper packet I could light up two or three longer sticks and settle down to enjoy the view. Hmm, warm, musky, sweet, sensual. Really, my kind of scent. Be nice if the Shoyeido Amethyst blend did a bit more, and if there were other scents to cut in or counter balance, but, hey, spikenard is groovy!  Score: 39

 

Burning the Ruby

"New Gems"

 

Mystic Jade contains sandalwood, myrrh, clove, and spices, and represents "Peace".  The dusky brown grey stick smells of coriander, turmeric, school rubber, and far distant wood and vague resin. It's quite attractive, but again in a fairly neutral manner. The scent is fairly woody ash on the burn - not actually unpleasant, there are those spices to keep it interesting and moderately attractive, but rather more like a cheap Indian bamboo core joss stick than I thought I would be smelling. I think there's not quite enough fragrant ingredients here to overcome the tabuko / makko powder smell. This is definitely my least favourite so far, and I really don't want to spend more time on it, small though it is.  Score: 20 



 

Obsidian contains frankincense, aromatic ginger (or is it ginger lily?), sandalwood, and spices, and represents "Hope".  Chocolate is what my senses tell me first when approaching the stick, and it's hard to move away from that, though fragrant wood resin does start to emerge, which I could associate with frankincense, though there's also cardboard, pencil shavings and school rubber. Likeable, but not in any compelling or inviting manner. The scent on the burn is again dark and warm like chocolate, though not exactly chocolate - it's fairly woody with warm spices. Quite gentle and gently attractive without being desirable. It's a scent I'm happy to have in my home, but not one that lifts me up or excites me. It's a scent I feel I can grasp quite quickly and has little more to offer.  Score: 26 


 

Blue Topaz contains green tea, sandalwood, clove, vanilla, and spices, and represents "Joy". This is a little more compellingly attractive on the stick than the previous two new Gems. Spice is the prominent aroma, and there is that curry association with the spices, though this is fairly sweet with an awareness of vanilla. And I can convince myself there is some green tea elements in the scent. Burning greenery is the main initial note on the burn. Tea is now at the forefront, and something mineral and marine. It's an interesting and fairly compelling aroma, though not necessarily attractive in an aesthetic sense. Some marijuana is now settling in the scent, though not pure high quality grass, this is more like - um - fake marijuana, like someone's put together dried nettles.  Ah, the vanilla is coming back in. I kinda like this scent. It's a little random and awkward, but I like the way it contrasts the sweet vanilla with the almost acrid burning greenery of the tea.   Score: 30  

 

Rose Crystal represents "Love". The ingredients description from the American Shoyeido website is a little unclear - in one place it says "Silky sandalwood, creamy resins, herbs, and spikenard", and in another it says "Benzoin, sandalwood".  A light coloured sandy brown stick which has some creamy pale sandalwood scent with possibly some mineral vanilla qualities than could come from the benzoin. I'm not getting any spikenard from the stick. The scent on the burn is similar to that on the stick - mostly wood and vanilla, though some pungent notes of burning herbs also comes through. I'm not getting any awareness of the spikenard at all.  This is a fairy simple scent, as most of the "New Gems" appear to be. The new Gem range is dryer, more inclined toward bitter or pungent burning herbs, less attractive, less sweet, less compelling, and less interesting than the original Gems. This one reminds me of Tibet incense, which is not to my taste. But it is acceptable.  Score: 22

It's kinda fun to work through a sampler, even when there's not much to burn. I don't think I've really got a handle on the scents because of the size of the samples, but enough to sort of point me in the right direction. The scents are largely pleasant though not heavenly or exciting.  Though there is supposed to be sandalwood in the mix, I really didn't get much of that in the sample - what I did get was the spices and herbs. While most scents were pleasant, a few were lower end, such as Mystic Jade and Obsidian, while Amethyst was very enjoyable, and I might get a full packet of that scent to get closer to it. 

I don't like that the sticks are in a plastic box. The more natural the ingredients, the more natural I expect the packaging to be.  There's no recycling information, which is a bummer. The price is a tad much for what you get (six very thin, short sticks, none containing expensive ingredients, mostly faint hints of herbs and spices) - $2.95 in the US,  and 3.95 euros here in Europe, but that does work out a reasonably priced way of discovering the scents in the range. I preferred the original scents. 

My score is for the sampler as a whole rather than the individual scents. 


Date: Jan 2023    Score:  26 

Japanese incense