These sticks are described as being Hainan Agarwood (in English it just says Agarwood, but 海南 is marked on the box, which is tradition Chinese for Hainan). Hainan, an island province just off the south of China, has been focusing on the agarwood market, and has been using modern methods of speeding up the production of incense resin in the heart of the Aquilaria tree. Bought off Temu for 99p for 5g. I've also seen these on Shein and AliExpress for around the same price.
The scent here is pleasant, but I'm burning these after the regular Fujian Incense Agarwood by the same company, and finding these a little flat and ordinary in comparison. There's a sort of mild woody scent, closer to cedarwood than agarwood. Some tea, some spice, a faint hint of caramel - a little bit of candy sugar. It's certainly very attractive, but it hasn't impressed me as much as the regular Agarwood.
That's super interesting! My observation was just the other way around!
ReplyDeleteI also burned the regular Agarwood first and found the two scents relatively similar but the Hainan stronger, more robust maybe, (even if still rather faint overall).
I burned the second stick of Agarwood after the Hainan and could barely smell it.
The regular Agarwood had a more perfumed scent, but mostly on the raw stick.
I found a fresh green, tea-like scent in both as well. The Hainan Agarwood had a hint of saltiness when I came back into the room.
Both don't strike me as notably agarwoody. (Which is no surprise at this price point.) It's more an unoffensive, slightly aromatic wood smoke smell with the addition of a fresh green scent.
I was being super half-glass full when reviewing these Asian sticks because I am aware I've developed a slight prejudice against Asian incense, which on the whole I find too wood focused, and too mild, and generally too boring. I'll be curious as to how I will view them when I get around to reviewing them again in the future.
DeleteMy understanding regarding Hainan agarwood, is that alongside the aged trees are new plantations which produce low cost, quickly grown agarwood which lacks age and depth and character. I'm sure these sticks would be using the agarwood from the new plantations. As such I'm not surprised you didn't find it "notably agarwoody".
DeleteI find that indicating the intended main fragrance of an incense can cut two ways. It can help us identify at point of purchase which incense we are most likely to enjoy, based on previous experiences. "Oh yes, I like sandalwood/agarwood/rose incense..." But it can lead to disappointment, indeed frustration, when the scent doesn't live up to expectations. At one time I would mark down an incense if it didn't live up to the billing, and I note that you have done that also. But these days I'm more forgiving, and - as I say, am more half-glass full, so I tend to look for what is there rather than what is not. If burning a perfumed incense I'm not going to mark it down because it is perfumed, because clearly that is what it is. When burning these Asian sticks I didn't mark down the score because they are wood based, because clearly that is what they are. And I learned how to adapt to experiencing wood based incense - which I have since employed on all my incense burning experiences, which is to keep the incense a long way away from me, and keep the room ventilated, and just be patient.
I've not had expensive agarwood. And given the prices of that stuff I am unlikely to have any in the future. So my experiences of agarwood have been the low cost stuff. Therefore I guess I'm less likely to be disappointed that a low cost agarwood incense doesn't have the qualities of an expensive agarwood which I've not experienced. Meanwhile, of course, there are synthetics. I'm quite happy with synthetics. I don't mean the cheap everyday room freshener synthetics, but the well blended and crafted perfumes which use naturals and synthetics together to create something beautiful. Often more beautiful than the natural alone.
Agarwood and Agarwood incense is a very tricky topic.
DeleteThe material has a wide range of scent profiles to offer, depending on where it's grown, age etc.
From animalic, barnyardy to bitter and sharp to foody/meaty, umami; to sweet and spicy, gourmand; fruity, floral ...
Even the "cheap" agarwood is quite expensive, which makes me very reluctant to dive into that rabbit hole. (This and the fact that I'm generally rather repelled by hypes and trends, and even more so if they are elitist or snobbish in any way.)
The cult around Agarwood, especially old agarwood is crazy and the people indulging in it can be so ... exhausting.
I have the great luck of having friends who love to share and are generous enough to send me samples of what they have; even very expensive stuff.
Therefore, I slowly gaining a sense of what actual Agarwood(s) smells like.
I've yet haven't touched most of the "upper-class" samples, as I only have very few of each and don't want to waste them.
"Cheap" agarwood, farmed agarwood can be beautiful, but even that won't be cheap in the sense as these sticks are, or regular priced Indian incenses etc.
Even farmed agarwood takes years to grow and develop its aroma.
I hope to get my hands on some samples of spent agarwood. It would help a lot to determine if something is made with spent wood or something completely else.
I love and broadly agree with your comments regarding attitudes to agarwood. This happens in a number of areas, such as wine and music. People can get super precious, which is never welcoming or helpful.
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