An attractive wooden box filled with over 50 thin dhoop incense sticks, £4.39 from Temu, sold by Solana. The name given is Budzhuang Agarwood - which may be a rough translation for Vietnam or Yellow Soil Agarwood, but that's a wild guess.
There is a faint savoury, spicy, woody note on the sticks, which is similar to the note I sometimes pick up from Japanese agarwood incense, particularly Baieido. When lit there is a soft gentle scent, which echoes that on the stick, though perhaps warmer, and maybe rougher. There is a savoury, herbal warmth here, which reminds me of vegetarian hippy food. It's an attractive scent, though perhaps not the sort of scent I'm looking for when burning incense. Along with the herbal, spicy, woody notes, there is also an awareness of burning, like smouldering paper.
Japanese and Chinese incense is not really my thing, though I have learned to lean back and allow the scent to come to me, and then to focus on it. It's not really the way I want to enjoy incense, but I acquire the patience in order to come to an understanding of this form of incense. I have learned that sometimes the appreciation comes in fleeting moments. And that it may take several burns to come to an understanding of each incense. I appreciate that many folks feel that "you get what you pay for", and that an incense costing less than £5 wouldn't be worth spending time on, while a £50 one would clearly be worth it. For me, it's not the price that keeps my attention, but a sense of curiosity and desire to learn. I'm not sure I'm learning much from these sticks, other than that they modestly smell of smouldering paper, herbs, and spice. But it seems most people who buy these sticks find them "Excellent" according to the reviews on Temu's website. I find them not unattractive, but not my thing. But then I tend to find Japanese agarwood incense on the whole to be not really my thing. I think I align with those who feel that agarwood should be warmed rather than burned.
There is a faint savoury, spicy, woody note on the sticks, which is similar to the note I sometimes pick up from Japanese agarwood incense, particularly Baieido. When lit there is a soft gentle scent, which echoes that on the stick, though perhaps warmer, and maybe rougher. There is a savoury, herbal warmth here, which reminds me of vegetarian hippy food. It's an attractive scent, though perhaps not the sort of scent I'm looking for when burning incense. Along with the herbal, spicy, woody notes, there is also an awareness of burning, like smouldering paper.
Japanese and Chinese incense is not really my thing, though I have learned to lean back and allow the scent to come to me, and then to focus on it. It's not really the way I want to enjoy incense, but I acquire the patience in order to come to an understanding of this form of incense. I have learned that sometimes the appreciation comes in fleeting moments. And that it may take several burns to come to an understanding of each incense. I appreciate that many folks feel that "you get what you pay for", and that an incense costing less than £5 wouldn't be worth spending time on, while a £50 one would clearly be worth it. For me, it's not the price that keeps my attention, but a sense of curiosity and desire to learn. I'm not sure I'm learning much from these sticks, other than that they modestly smell of smouldering paper, herbs, and spice. But it seems most people who buy these sticks find them "Excellent" according to the reviews on Temu's website. I find them not unattractive, but not my thing. But then I tend to find Japanese agarwood incense on the whole to be not really my thing. I think I align with those who feel that agarwood should be warmed rather than burned.
If you can get your hands on some pure agarwood sticks from Yi-Xin, it's worth giving them a go. I find that mid to lower grade agarwood is harsh and smoky, but the high end, highly resinated woods can be made to smell very clean in a stick. Ken is very good at minimizing off notes, and you can really get an idea as to the character of agarwood from different regions through his work.
ReplyDeleteThat would be Craft-Incense. I am tempted (and I trust your judgement and knowledge), but the prices (which appear quite fair compared to some Japanese prices, but are still rather high), coupled with my not having had a thrilling experience so far with burning agarwood sticks, are holding me off. If the prices were lower, or if I had been delighted so far with the agarwood sticks I have burned, then I would certainly go for it. But those are two strong negatives holding me back.
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