[For previous Top 10 lists, please click on the Incense Review Index tab above]
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Tennendo / Enkuu-Horizon – Enkuu-Horizon is the incense I’d probably burn most often would it grow on trees and there was no such thing as kyara. There are qualities in this incense that remind me of a good aged single malt, as if there was a maturation process involved. It’s dense, woody and extraordinarily complex.
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Mandala Trading / Tibetan Monastery Incense (third down) – This is one of the most addictive, consistently impressive Tibetan incenses and one I burn at least every other day. There’s something about the Mandala Trading incense that makes the incenses so potent and this one has a cinnamon/spice mixed with a more traditional herbal base that I just can’t get enough of. One of the best under $10 incenses you can buy.
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Kyukyodo / Sho Ran Ko – If I had an objective favorite incense it would be this one and as such it’s hard to knock it off the list even if in the last two months I’ve been conservative in reaching for one of these sticks. One of the finest aromatic experiences available.
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Shoyeido / Horin / Muro-Machi – Maybe it speaks for the whole Horin line, but I tend to hop favorites in every given month and could easily see any of the five on the list. Muro-machi’s the newest for me, it’s a caramel aloeswood that combined a rich sweetness with a very high quality of wood. I severely depleted my stock on this one this month.
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Shunkodo / Yoshino no haru – Even though many of the Shunkodo incenses don’t breach this top 10 list, I may burn them more than any other incense. The primary reason for this is just that each Shunkodo roll has 140-160 sticks and thus I feel like I can burn them without feeling like I’m running out. Yoshino no haru is similar to Kunmeido Asuka and Heian Koh in that it’s a green aloeswood with a very particular rich and fresh aroma. While this one isn’t perhaps quite as deluxe as the Kunmeidos, I also have a lot more of it and thus burn it fairly frequently.
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Shoyeido / Incense Road or Gourmet / Frankincense – I’m just about out of stock on this one so it may be a while before it hits this list again, but I’ve grown to adore this very rich and spicy stick. It’s of the kind (like Horin/Hori-kawa) that tends to even impress friends who don’t normally notice your incense.
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Mandala Trading / Himalayan Herbal Incense (second down) – I didn’t warm to this quite as fast as the Tibetan Monastery Blend but I’m starting to like this one almost as much. It makes me think spearmint candy cane. I had left this burning upstairs and ran out for a quick errand. When I came back the whole place was imbued with this fresh, minty, herbal scent.
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Shunkodo / Haru no Kaori – While I wouldn’t really put this rather inexpensive aloeswood incense in the same league as Kyukyodo’s Azusa, it’s a vaguely similarly styled incense, combining a floral top note with a slight and unobtrusive woody base. I kept coming back to this incense over and over during the month.
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Kunmeido / Reiryo Koh – Eventually I’ll get around to making a top 10 Incense under $10 list and if I do, this trusty classic will likely be in the top half. It’s one of the few non-aloeswood incenses that has an intense complexity to it. I assume the Reiryo root is part of the equation, although in more deluxe Kunmeido incenses you get that depth without the wild and initially intense spice note here. It starts off rough and challenging but really mellows out into a fine incense.
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Baieido / Tokusen Syukohkoku – Aromatic fatigue who nail just about anyone who burns more than a few sticks in a given night. I mention this because this deluxe Baieido stick is utterly awe inspiring if you’re coming into an incense burning session fresh. It’s partially the very high quality aloeswood but there’s also a very mild yet complex level of spice that can get lost if the nose is numb. One of the world’s great incenses.