PremaNature – Spiritual Sage

I received this pack from PremaNature as a sample at the beginning of 2025.
The main article about PremaNature you can find here.

A pack of PremaNature incense sticks contains 12 sticks of 8″ length; each burns for 45-55 minutes.
On the back, this pack carries a stamp with the packing date of June 2023 and the batch number SS2106.

Bought directly from the PremaNature website, the sticks cost 5€ per pack, that makes about 0,42€ per stick. In Germany, they’re so far only sold by Indiaroma, where a pack costs 5,90€ (about 0,49€ per stick).

The English word ‘Sage’ is a homonym, it can mean ‘sage’ (the herb) as well as ‘wise man’.
Initially, I was confused about the naming and thought it was a variety containing sage, not least because sage incense is currently very trendy. Actually, however, they are frankincense incense sticks.
David from PremaNature, who also develops the recipes, explained to me that he was thinking of the ‘three Sages’ when naming the variety, also known as the ‘three kings’, one of whom brought frankincense as a gift to baby Jesus.

Ingredients: Theertham (energized water), Boswellia sacra oil, Essential oil mix, Tree resin, High-quality pure charcoal powder, Tectona grandis and Litsea glutinosa powder.

Spiritual Sage have a very clear, unmistakable frankincense scent. Regarding the strength of the fragrance, these sticks are amongst the strongest of the brand, but overall still in the moderate range.

The ingredients list mentions the oil of Boswellia sacra frankincense, which is best known under the name Hojari (after the harvest region from which the highest quality B. sacra originates). Unlike other frankincense varieties, B. sacra quality grades aren’t just sorted by size of pieces, but by colours of the resin, which smell different from each other. Therefore, an essential oil of the resin can also have different notes, depending on which quality it was distilled from. In Spiritual Sage I don’t smell any of the typical lemony, orange or eucalyptus-like, camphoraceous notes of the Hojari qualities, but it’s still a lovely and classic frankincense scent.

The frankincense character is spicy, rather resinous-dry and woody.
Occasionally, I can pick out a slightly bitter note, reminiscent of the gum portion of frankincense resins, which I primarily smell when I get the smoke from a bit too close-up. This makes me suspect that one of the unnamed resins from the ingredient list is a frankincense.

Spiritual Sage have a robust, resinous frankincense scent and are a solid contribution to the fragrance genre.