Elbenzauber – Tallisin-Kräuter
I bought this pack second-hand along with Nag Champa, Mattipal, and Lugnasad-Blüten. The original price is about €4-5. A pack contains 15g, since the sticks are not always rolled to the same thickness, the number of pieces varies between 9 and 14.
The ingredients mentioned are camphor, ginger lily, and herbs.
Tallisin-Kräuter [Tallisin Herbs] smells refreshingly unique. The base of the composition is slightly tart, dark or heavy, and woody. On this strong foundation, a distinctly fresh and invigorating scent builds up, featuring herbal components as well as a floral aspect.
Camphor is listed as an ingredient; I am familiar with both regular camphor and its more natural Indian variant, known as “Bhimensi”. The scent is fresh and strongly tart – Vick VapoRub smells intensely of camphor. Kampuram by Fiore D’Oriente (from the Marco Polo’s Treasures line) has exactly the camphor scent I know.
However, the fresh note in Tallisin-Kräuter is entirely different. The scent reminds me of wintergreen or birchbark essential oil. This scent is not tart but almost tangy; it has a minty quality, a very light sweetness, and tends to appear green. This note is also present in Cycle – Woods, and I have noticed it in other incense sticks as well.
I was also immediately reminded of Shoyeido – Diamond, which also contains ginger lily. In Diamond, I detect a gingery sharpness, which I don’t smell in Tallisin-Kräuter, but the two scents are closely related to me. I think it’s the enchanting floral aspect and softness that both scents have in common.
I’m really in love with this scent. Despite its robust character, Tallisin-Kräuter has something very gentle and light. I find them incredibly refreshing and invigorating. I think many people could appreciate these incense sticks as a gentle wake-up for the morning; as a companion for mental work or even for meditation and yoga. The only small downside is that the bamboo stick gives off a burnt note, just before it extinguishes.
Rating: 4.9
Tallisin-Kräuter has now as well been reviewed on Incense in The Wind.
Note regarding camphor:
I suspect that there are two entirely different types of camphor: the “regular” camphor, which, I believe, is obtained from Camphora officinarum, and Dryobalanops camphora, which seems to be known primarily in the context of Japanese incense under the name Borneo camphor or Borneol. Research on this is very difficult because a group of chemical compounds is also referred to as “borneols“, which are components of camphor and other aromatic plants. Therefore, I am not yet entirely sure if I have untangled this topic correctly.