I love the story behind the goose pear fragrance, a traditional Chinese incense made by steaming pears with agarwood and sandalwood. It is seen as a royal incense, and is romantically linked to the love affair between poet and emperor Li Yu and his consort Zhou Ehuang of the Southern Tang state around 970 BC. Li Yu made the incense for his lover, and they "met in a secluded garden and followed the fragrance under the moon". Beautiful!
There is a basic sandalwood scent blended with something cloudy and fermented. I have burned a goose pear incense previously, and found that it needs fresh air to bring it to life, otherwise it comes across as old, blurred, and a little smoky. I walked it around various rooms in the house, and then left it in one room, and came back a little later. Nothing I did could bring it to life. Which has made me reflect back on the other Goose Pear I have reviewed, which I gave a good score, and I now wonder if I was mistaken. Or if this incense is truly not as good as that one. Whatever. At this moment, I'm not impressed with this particular Goose Pear. It's not ugly, but it is flat and somewhat uninteresting.
There is a basic sandalwood scent blended with something cloudy and fermented. I have burned a goose pear incense previously, and found that it needs fresh air to bring it to life, otherwise it comes across as old, blurred, and a little smoky. I walked it around various rooms in the house, and then left it in one room, and came back a little later. Nothing I did could bring it to life. Which has made me reflect back on the other Goose Pear I have reviewed, which I gave a good score, and I now wonder if I was mistaken. Or if this incense is truly not as good as that one. Whatever. At this moment, I'm not impressed with this particular Goose Pear. It's not ugly, but it is flat and somewhat uninteresting.
Available as part of a set of 11 fragrances from Amazon, Temu, and Shein, for around £8. Or by itself from DylansDen for £2.
I got a couple of goose pear coils from AliExpress gifted from a friend I regularly exchange incense with. I LOVE them, but they are no longer available.
ReplyDeleteI ordered two different goose pear sticks in hopes they will at least smell remotely similar.
It's interesting that there are some real differences between those really cheap incenses from Temu etc.
Goose pear is a fascinating incense, isn't it. But I'm not sure if when I had it the first time, I was seduced by the story rather than the incense itself. I intended to review everything again at some point. I'll see then is I still find the Temu Small Auspicious Clouds Goose Pear as nice as I did the first time!
DeleteThese Temu purchases have really opened my eyes to Chinese incense. It's not really my thing - it's rather basic and weak for me. I'm not a fan of mono-scents (unless it's something already quite complex, like patchouli), and I'm not a fan of weak or soft scents - I like my scents to be rich. All that said, having spent some time with these Chinese incenses, I'm starting to understand them. And I'm finding them to be of a better quality than I had previously either experienced or acknowledged. None of this is to say that I've yet found a Chinese incense that I'm blown away by, but that they are decent incenses and very good value for money.
DeleteThat's cool!
DeleteI wonder how this might affect your perception of Japanese incense in the future.
I'm glad you sent me samples of those and the auspicious clouds version!
ReplyDeleteI just burned the first stick and, wow, they are bad! Not entirely awful, but it's a perfumy, cheap scent that does not manage to overcome the harsh smokiness.
Looking forward to finding out how the clouds compare to the Goose Pear sticks (and coils) I had before.
I'm trying hard to be as positive as I realistically can to Asian incenses outside of India because there are a number of people who seem to like them, but I am struggling. I think my personality is more suited to the bold, bright, outgoing Indian style rather than the polite, quiet, withdrawn, serious styles of China and Japan. I do find a link between some of the Chinese incense and the traditional German cones, and I think it is the use of wood powder, coupled with a restrained use of fragrance.
Delete"I do find a link between some of the Chinese incense and the traditional German cones, and I think it is the use of wood powder, coupled with a restrained use of fragrance."
DeleteThat's interesting.
I want to disagree, but I will let the thought simmer for a while.