Incense Reviews Index « Olfactory Rescue Service

TOP TEN LISTS (These Top Ten Lists are designed to list current favorites rather than an overall Top Ten, mostly as a fun way to talk about what’s currently interesting me, including incenses I haven’t reviewed yet.)

6 Comments

Steve said,

October 2, 2008 at 1:22 pm

Yes – ironically I use a bowl of ash on occasion to burn incense – especially Tibetan that is often too large to fit in standard holders – because I hated how other methods would waste the ends of sticks that didn’t burn. But in practice, the last inch or two can really be unpleasant in unfresh ash, so maybe I’m actually wasting more

Any recommendations on a nice holder with a hole large enough for Tibetan?

Steve

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Mike said,

October 2, 2008 at 10:21 am

Yes, it should be fine here, I don’t think Ross and I will be reviewing the Essence of Ages line here, as we’re working on a project separate from this site, but hopefully these could be tackled by new writers at some point. I’m not sure if we’ll be doing the sticks yet.

Steve’s dead right about that ashy smell. To me it’s one downfall of using the ash method. Yes your stick will burn all the way down, but it will be leavened by the other aromatics your ash picks up. I did try Beth’s method of cooking the ash in an oven for a while, this does tend to reduce the offsmells quite a bit, although I don’t think they ever totally go away. This seems to be exacerbated by just how deep a stick can go in a bowl of ash, sometimes two inches of stick burn under the ash and I’ve even forgotten and put a stick on top of it only for it to fall over later as it had caught from the other end.

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Claire said,

October 2, 2008 at 3:07 am

Ganesh Dhoop – Essence of the Ages (review – please move if posted in wrong place)

Burn 1: Nothing of note – just smelled of smoke, maybe it was because my sinuses are still pretty bunged up in the morning. Need to retry later.

Burn 2: Noticed a very subtle aroma but too subtle for me to describe. Need to try again and maybe burn a full stick (rather than a broken fragment) to allow the aroma to gradually build.

Burn 3 (for longer): Sorry, I can still only detect a subtle aroma but at least it is this that I notice more than the smoke that was all I noticed on the first burn. The last few millimetres of the stick gave off quite a nasty, acrid after-burn smell though – thankfully it didn’t persist once the stick had gone out completely.

Afternote: Steve kindly emailed to explain that the nasty after-burn smell (ashtray like) could have been down to burning the incense in ash that hadn’t been changed in a while.

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Mike said,

June 4, 2008 at 2:00 am

All links updated to Olfactory Rescue Service as of 6/3/08.

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Mike said,

May 7, 2008 at 3:29 pm

[5/7 Update] Thanks to Kotaro Sugimoto at Japan Incense, I’ve managed to have translated some of the companies behind incenses that are usually filed under various/miscellaneous categories at most stores. This started when I noticed that Ranshuko Temple Blend and Encens du Monde/Kunjudo’s Celestial Nave were identical in box and ingredients.

For instance, the review of Jinko Yomei now reflects that this is a Gyokushodo incense (as are Keiunko, Jinko Hoen, Kojurin and Jinko Kojurin). I moved Jinko Ranjatai to the Kunmeido section when Kotaro revealed it was actually the long stick version of Kunmeido’s Onkun-Koh. His help is most appreciated.

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Bible Versus and Gardens » Incense Reviews Index Mike’s Prattle said,

March 11, 2008 at 4:00 am

[...] Read more about this topic from the author here. [...]

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Olfactory Rescue Service

Incense Reviews Index

6 Comments

Steve said,

Mike said,

Claire said,

Mike said,

Mike said,

Bible Versus and Gardens » Incense Reviews Index Mike’s Prattle said,

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