IncenseInTheWind The Incense Hunter: Resins

Wednesday, 26 February 2025

Resins - A Journey of Discovery

What are resins, and why throughout history and across the world have we treasured and honoured them, burned them ritualistically and for pleasure, and traded them for high prices? Since starting this blog I've been aware of resins, though I've been slow in acquiring knowledge. I love the smoky whispers of history, legends and lore, and mysticality of resins such as frankincense, myrrh, and benzoin that I have glimpsed; though I am short on informed knowledge. So I want to focus on learning more by burning more.

Resins are produced by certain trees and shrubs as a defence mechanism against infection and insects - when cut or wounded, the plant secretes a sticky sap that covers the wound, hardening when exposed to air. Not all trees do this. Most resin‑producing trees are conifers, especially pines, firs, spruces, and cedars. Some non‑conifers, such as Boswellia (frankincense), Commiphora (myrrh), Styrax (benzoin), and Cistus (labdanum), also produce aromatic resins, but these are exceptions rather than the rule. Many broadleaf trees (oaks, maples, willows, etc.) do not produce resin at all; they rely on other defence mechanisms like tannins, latex, or rapid wound compartmentalisation.

What makes resins so fragrant is their concentration of terpenes and terpenoids, which are the aromatic compounds that deliver the scent when warmed. All woods have terpenes to some degree. Fragrant woods, such as sandalwood and cedar have significant amounts; less fragrant woods such as oak and willow have low amounts. The secret to the desirability of resin is that the fragrant terpenes are gathered from around around the tree and concentrated in the resin. Terpenes are an essential part of the defence and healing mechanism; and research indicates they are beneficial to humans.

When heated, resins release dense, complex fragrance - bright and citrus‑pine in frankincense, dark and medicinal in myrrh, sweet‑amber in benzoin, leathery in labdanum, or fresh and forested in pine resins. These families - true resins like frankincense and myrrh; oleoresins like copal and pine, which contain more terpene oil and stay softer; balsams like benzoin and Peru balsam, which are rich in aromatic acids and tend toward sweet, vanilla scent profiles - form the backbone of global incense traditions. Their chemistry is simple, but their scent profiles are some of the most ancient and recognisable in human culture.

For thousands of years, resins were among the world’s most valuable traded materials. Travelling along incense routes that connected South Arabia, the Mediterranean, Europe, India, and Asia. In South and Central America, copal was central to Mesoamerican ceremonies long before European contact. Resins have been a part of economies, diplomacy, and religion across the world before we had written language to record it. The smoke of resin marked temples, shrines, healing rites, and royal courts; and the resin trade connected cultures long before spices or silk became global commodities.

For much of the twentieth century in the West, the way people have mostly encountered the fragrance of resins has been from incense sticks and cones which carry names such as Frankincense & Myrrh, though often there is little to no actual resin in these sticks - the fragrance being created by aroma chemical companies such as Aromar and Givaudan. Though there are individuals who have formed communities to discuss and share resins and botanicals. And there

is growing interest not just in resin itself, but in making convenient incense sticks which are composed of resins. The first commercial "resin-on-a-stick" was made and sold by Fred Soll, who has been working from New Mexico since the 1970s; and now other makers are producing resin-on-a-stick incense: sticks coated in whole resins like frankincense, copal, and piñon, rolled and dried without synthetic binders or fragrance oils (though some sticks produced in India may use oils). Soll's influence is drifting across the incense world, with small producers seeing the commercial possibilities of letting the resin speak for itself.

Reviews

* = Review over five years old, so may not be reliable