This is a gift from Samsa Spoon, who has the Plume of Smoke blog. Haku-un, translated as White Cloud, contains agarwood, benzoin, and sandalwood, though it is mainly the sandalwood that I smell, and a rather basic sandalwood. There is a touch of general burning, some earthy warmth that I find attractive and comforting, like an old and slightly rough wool blanket. I was a little dismissive at first, but I grew to like it more as time went by. It's a quirky little incense, at times smelling of boiling cabbage, but not in a horrid way, more like a homely and reassuring way.
It's not a heavenly or delightful incense, but as the intention is modest - this is aimed to be an everyday incense for "casual enjoyment", I think this achieves that purpose. The sticks are thin and soon gone - I found I appreciated the incense more when I burned four sticks at the same time, so there was more presence to the scent, and some of the depth and some of the subtleties and some of the spice could be experienced, but even then it was soon gone. There are a number of places where this is sold, but none of them offer this at what I would consider a reasonable price for what is a modest incense. The most common form is a 35 stick bundle, which is sold on the Shoyeido site in the US for $12.50; at ZenMinded for $17; at Fragrancia for £14.95; at Amazon for £13.95; at Vectis Karma for £14.95; at Sacred By Design (Australia) for $18.95, etc. The best price I found is from Tokyo-Market in France for €9.32.
I am curious enough to keep exploring Japanese incense and to keep an open mind, but the price does put me off, especially when what I have experienced so far has been fairly modest. Bakhoor is also not a cheap incense, but with bakhoor the experience is so sublime that it is clear that the money is worth it. And this experience with such a meagre amount of agarwood that it cannot reasonably be fully experienced amid the sandalwood and spice, has just reminded me of how wonderful agarwood can be when used in bakhoor, and that I should dig out the bakhoor I ordered some time back, but have not yet burned.
It's not a heavenly or delightful incense, but as the intention is modest - this is aimed to be an everyday incense for "casual enjoyment", I think this achieves that purpose. The sticks are thin and soon gone - I found I appreciated the incense more when I burned four sticks at the same time, so there was more presence to the scent, and some of the depth and some of the subtleties and some of the spice could be experienced, but even then it was soon gone. There are a number of places where this is sold, but none of them offer this at what I would consider a reasonable price for what is a modest incense. The most common form is a 35 stick bundle, which is sold on the Shoyeido site in the US for $12.50; at ZenMinded for $17; at Fragrancia for £14.95; at Amazon for £13.95; at Vectis Karma for £14.95; at Sacred By Design (Australia) for $18.95, etc. The best price I found is from Tokyo-Market in France for €9.32.
I am curious enough to keep exploring Japanese incense and to keep an open mind, but the price does put me off, especially when what I have experienced so far has been fairly modest. Bakhoor is also not a cheap incense, but with bakhoor the experience is so sublime that it is clear that the money is worth it. And this experience with such a meagre amount of agarwood that it cannot reasonably be fully experienced amid the sandalwood and spice, has just reminded me of how wonderful agarwood can be when used in bakhoor, and that I should dig out the bakhoor I ordered some time back, but have not yet burned.
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