KNOX – Bunte Duftkegel (Retrodesign)

This mixed pack of (translated) “Colourful Scented Cones” by KNOX was a small surprise birthday gift from Sascha, who’s apparently found pleasure in “blessing” me with German incense cones. ;P

It seems it was already trendy in the 70s to print a jumble of German and English on packaging. I thought that was a more recent phenomenon.

The retro-designed pack from 1972 contains a total of 40 cones of six different varieties, included in random quantities. In this one there were
5x Rose,
8x Lavendel [Lavender],
7x Encense d’Orient [Oriental Incense],
9x Citrus,
5x Konifere [Conifer] and
6x Veilchen [Violet].

One cone burns for about 10 minutes; the ember needs another 5 minutes to extinguish.

They’re packed in a plastic bag with a perforated cut to make tearing open easier. The cones therefore aren’t packed completely airtight.

In the KNOX shop, one box costs €3.99.

The cones are brightly coloured and square-shaped as illustrated on the box.

Straight from the pack, it smells like cheap soap.

I burned the cones outside on my balcony and always 3 at once.

With all of them, I could smell the base material or binder more or less clearly: a smell like when someone lights a campfire and uses cardboard and waste paper for ignition.

My impressions of the individual varieties:

Rose

Floral and fresh, vaguely citrusy-green. Not exactly unpleasant, but not good either.
After halfway through, the smell becomes seriously rough; piercing and like wet cardboard.

Lavendel [Lavender]

Somewhat powdery, floral, with a robust, slightly tart note underneath. I can’t necessarily recognise it as lavender, though. Instead, I associate the smell with air fresheners and foot deodorant.
At least out here, the aroma manages to cover up the smoke. Though, at the finish, these cones as well develop a piercing note.

I tipped the cones over at the end and found that something from the cones seeps into the sand and glues it together, and it sticks to the rest of the cone. The smell then is ashy and unpleasant.

Encense d’Orient [Oriental Incense]

Right after lighting, it smells piercing and smoky. When the smoke doesn’t blow directly towards me, I smell a sweet, soft, warm note, but the smoke is scratchy and unpleasant right from the start.

The French sounds fancy, but doesn’t make the smell any better.

Citrus

Wood and cardboard smoke, with a hint of lemon aroma.

Konifere [Conifer]

From this “Conifer” scent, I get cardboard smoke and a piercing freshness, not unlike that citrusy-green note in Rose.
When the wind turns away from me, the association with conifer trees becomes easier.
Not exactly pleasant.

Veilchen [Violet]

The scent is recognisable as violet. Powdery, floral, but with a vaguely soapy undertone.
They again become more unpleasant towards the bottom, but are quite ok.

Occasionally, I hear a strange crackling with this variety.

Conclusion

Based on the intensity of the colours (setting the smell aside), I find it hard to believe that these cones contain any aromatic raw ingredients like herbs etc.; these would make the colours appear significantly darker and muted. The uncoloured mixture must be exceptionally pale in all varieties.
They also feel different from the cones I’ve had so far; they’re strangely light and “soft”; not in the sense of being malleable, but “with low density”; I can easily leave an impression with my fingernail.

With these incense cones, it’s less a question of which ones I like best, but rather which ones I find least unpleasant. And even with that, I have a hard time answering.