Sonnentag – Natural Scents: Chandan, Sandelholz
I discovered the Sonnentag brand by chance and ordered their incense sticks directly from their shop. The regular price is €2.70, I bought Chandan on special offer for €2.20, Sandelholz [sandalwood] was available as B-stock for €1.70 (the package was defective).
These are 10g boxes. Chandan contained 9 incense sticks, Sandelholz had 10 – that makes an approximate unit price of 27ct.
A burning time is not specified.
I had a short, friendly email exchange with Sonnentag and learned that the manufacturing company in India, from which they had previously got their incense from, unfortunately no longer exists. So the incense sticks that have been produced in India will disappear from their range as soon as the current stock is sold out.
They have only recently started to work with a producer in Nepal and have only added a couple of their varieties to the Sonnentag line-up by now.
Chandan is from the Indian producer, Sandelholz is made by the new producer in Nepal.
Sonnentag state in the product description that Chandan is the Hindu word for sandalwood, though the Chandan sticks are a blend. When it comes to Sandelholz, no other ingredients than sandalwood (and its essential oil) are mentioned.
Chandan
Aromatic Ingredients: Cedarwood, Vetiver, Sandalwood
Made in India.
These incense sticks look like the standard Masala incense sticks. The dough is minimally kneadable and feels tough, it appears to contain charcoal and is powdered with a wood flour.
Chandan has a fresh, vaguely floral and at the same time old-fashioned note that I cannot attribute to any of the three ingredients mentioned. The smell is familiar, but I can’t place it.
The composition has a slightly sweet, softly woody smell, in which I mainly recognize cedar wood. I only notice a bit of sandalwood after about half a stick, in the form of a soft, slightly buttery smell.
Right from the start, I find a note in them that reminds me of nutmeg, which I don’t particularly like. On some days, there is also a somewhat sour-tart note.
I don’t smell the vetiver, although my friend Max once mentioned a “peppery note” that would go with how I perceive vetiver.
Sonnentag themselves describe the scent profile as “balsamic-spicy, woody, earthy”.
The scent profile of Chandan seems quite natural to me, but the quality is average. It’s rather subtle, woody-soft and not unpleasant, but unfortunately, it just doesn’t suit my taste.
Sandelholz [Sandalwood]
Aromatic Ingredients: Sandalwood Powder, Chandan (Sandalwood) Essential Oil
Made in Nepal.
Sandelholz are Dry Masala, the sticks appear extruded and are coated with a fine yellowish powder.
Sonnentag describes the scent profile as “warm, soft, balsamic and woody”.
First off, I like Sandelholz much better than this brand’s Chandan. But it doesn’t blow me away either. It has a simple, woody, barely sweet, but relatively soft sandalwood aroma that hints in a slightly buttery direction, but above all, it’s kinda “salty”. I have often read the comparison of some sandalwood scents to Graham crackers. I don’t know these certain crackers, but I can absolutely understand the association to dry crackers with these Sandelholz sticks.
When burned in my mother’s living room, Sandelholz smells a little sweeter, warmer, and less cracker-like. There, we have used them up by now.
When I compare Sandelholz with Sandalwood from Jiri & Friends, they can’t keep up because with J&F‘s, the sandalwood character is much more pronounced. They are butterier and appear to be overall of higher quality. But I think Sonnentag – Sandelholz are much better than, for example, Take Me To The Yoga Shala.
If you like this type of simple, natural and very woody smelling incense sticks, Sandelholz might be a good choice.