Gift from Irene of Rauchfahne, who was exploring incense from AliExpress around the same time I was exploring incense from Temu. The platforms are similar, often sourcing from the same place, though the public perception is that AliExpress is more expensive, slower, has poorer customer service, and has not completely eliminated counterfeits from its system - all of which is supported by research; while Temu has more public perception issues regarding non-compliance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. These concerns don't have hard evidence and the reports come from the US government which sees China as an enemy, yet it would be more reassuring if Temu applied themselves further in checking the sources of all their goods. It's uncomfortable to think that we could be buying incense made by slave labour.
I've reviewed a Nha Trang Agarwood - bought from Temu, which I liked. I've reviewed at least 25 incenses which have agarwood in the name, though I've not yet reviewed a piece of agarwood, nor do I know how much or genuinely what sort of agarwood is contained in any of the incenses I've reviewed so far. The one I loved most, Calmveda Oudh Agarwood, was clearly powered by modern aroma chemicals and possibly informed by some low cost oils, such as patchouli, yet really worked for me.
Nha Trang is a place in Vietnam where old or wild agarwood is legendary, rare, and expensive. These days agarwood is grown in plantations in Nha Trang, and artificially inoculated, as indicated in this video. The agarwood from these plantations is harvested young, so does not have the qualities of the old Nha Trang agarwood, even though sold under the same name. If there's any genuine agarwood in this incense, it is more likely to be inoculated agarwood rather than the legendary wild wood.
In my experience the Chinese wrap the fragrance inside the wood paste dough, so it is locked in, and don't tend to spray the finished sticks with a cold throw scent. So there's little clue as to what it will smell like until burned.
Because wood paste has a strong and distinctive smell when burned, it is generally even more important to place wood paste incense further away when burning so the heavier off-scents of wood paste and binder drop away to allow the lighter fragrance notes to arrive unencumbered. With an incense that is based on wood scent then both base material scent and fragrance material scent tend to arrive wrapped together. The scent is warm, slightly reminiscent of smouldering paper, though also has a general awareness of mildly fragrant wood, though quite clean, pale wood, without the rich, sexy, sweet dark depths that I enjoy.
Because wood paste has a strong and distinctive smell when burned, it is generally even more important to place wood paste incense further away when burning so the heavier off-scents of wood paste and binder drop away to allow the lighter fragrance notes to arrive unencumbered. With an incense that is based on wood scent then both base material scent and fragrance material scent tend to arrive wrapped together. The scent is warm, slightly reminiscent of smouldering paper, though also has a general awareness of mildly fragrant wood, though quite clean, pale wood, without the rich, sexy, sweet dark depths that I enjoy.
I have also heard that Chinese incense makers are reticent to use *any* sort of concentrates such as oils, absolutes, et cetera, so most traditional Chinese style incense is strictly whole botanicals, albeit they are likely to have been processed in some way.
ReplyDeleteAgarwood is a tricky material. IME it doesn't tend to contain much oil to slow down the burn, like sandalwood does, but instead it has pockets of resin surrounded by streaks of white-wood that smell like burning paper when alight. The best agarwood has been sitting around long enough to break down most if not all of this white wood, making top-quality agarwood impossible to burn on its own: it's almost entirely resin. For this reason, ultra-premium incense that uses large amounts of agarwood also needs to include charcoal as an accelerant (and I *still* have a devil of a time keeping lit that last agarwood incense I bought from Yi-Xin, which is really annoying). It makes it really tricky to work with agarwood as an incense-maker. Do you use cheaper stuff and deal with the off-notes (still at quite a cost), or do you opt for extremely expensive wood that is a nightmare to work with, if you can even afford it in the first place? I know some artisans use oil, but it is also extremely expensive, and then you have to worry about adulteration more than you would with actual pieces of wood. I'm sure the fragrance is also not quite the same.
And there really is no convincing substitute for real agarwood, either. You either use the stuff, or your incense isn't really going to even come close to smelling like it. All this to say: I don't really mess with mid-low agarwood incense sticks these days unless the agarwood is just part of a composition from a reputable house. Baieido's Tokusen Kobunboku and Kunmeido's Shin Tokusen Reiryokoh are quite nice, IMO. Beside that, you really have to look to ultra-premium sticks, and even then, agarwood is a bizarre fragrance to most westerners and many won't much care for it.
The whole area of botanicals and resins is fascinating to me, and I'm looking forward to exploring properly this year thanks to what you and Irene have sent me.
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