Australian Sandalwood (AliExpress)
In recent years, I’ve noticed an increasing number of incense sticks (and accessories like holders) on platforms like Amazon and Etsy that appear to be resold or drop-shipped items from AliExpress. Out of curiosity, I created an AliExpress account.
It didn’t take long to find several listings for the incense sticks being reviewed here, which cost between €11 and €18 on Amazon. I chose this offer and, with a discount, paid just under €5 for the pack, which includes 120 sticks, each 21 cm long.
In addition to the Australian Sandalwood variety, there are also Sandalwood and Wormwood options. I wonder if it could actually be moxa (mugwort) which has a long tradition in TCM; both plants are part of the Artemisia genus.
The box is as high quality as the product images suggest, though there are minor differences. For instance, in my box, the inner text and painted landscape are on the respective other sides, and my box has red characters on the front that are not shown in some images.
The sticks are delicate, only about 1.5mm thick, very similar to various Japanese incense, though these are made in China.
The raw sticks have a woody, aromatic-spicy, and faintly earthy scent. When lit, the scent character remains similar, with the addition of a smoky wood note. Australian sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) has a slightly spicier character than its Indian counterpart, so I don’t doubt that Australian sandalwood is used here. However, I’ve encountered significantly better quality with a bit more sweetness and smoothness.
These Australian Sandalwood sticks offer a rather dry wood scent, and if the smoke isn’t well-diffused, its spicy nature can quickly come across as harsh and biting. When well-diluted in the air, however, they’re quite nice.
Occasionally, I’m in the mood for these kinds of scents; I then light one or two sticks in the adjoining room with the window open.
After the pack had been with me for several months, I noticed some changes in the sticks. First, tiny sparkling spots appeared, and a bit later, darker patches as though semi-liquid resin or oil was seeping from the sticks. It even left faint marks on the paper inside the box, as can be seen in the picture above.
This is how the sticks look now:
There was a post on Reddit a while ago, showing a picture of incense sticks which had developed similar spots. These were the Musk sticks out of the Hitotoki line by Kousaido. So the phenomenon is apparently not an isolated case and is not limited to cheap incense sticks.
I find these Australian Sandalwood incense sticks quite well-suited for those who enjoy spicy, wood smoke scents, especially if they’re not fond of the sweetness often found in sandalwood incense.
However, prices of €15 or more seem excessive to me.