Listening to Okuno Seimeido Tokusen Kunsui

In the world of Japanese incense, the recipes used by incense houses are not only closely guarded family secrets, but often date back hundreds of years. This tradition of secrecy and legacy is well documented even in the early takimonō of the Heian Period (749 - 1185), as the creation of the fermented incense was undertaken in great secrecy to protect recipes that were often family secrets passed down for generations. In her classic novel The Tale of Genji(c. 1021), Lady Murasaki illustrates the secrecy with which these legacy recipes were prepared, highlighting Genji's seclusion while creating takimonō based upon a secret formula handed down since Japanese antiquity, while his love interest Murasaki employed curtains to protect the secrecy of incense formula passed down for centuries from an Emperor's  Minister of Ceremonials. Even "modern" Japanese classics like Mainichikoh and Hana no Hana were created by Tenkundō’s founder, Yujiro Kitō using recipes based on the kōjū (講中) tradition dating back to the 16th century. Nippon Kodo would go on to develop many fragrances based on the secret recipes of Yujiro Kitō and the kōjū tradition, extending its roots back to the first kōjū in 1575. At the heart of Okuno Seimeido's Tokusen Kunsui lies just such a secret family tradition.

Commemorating 280 years since the founding of Okuno Seimeido, Tokusen Kunsui (薫翠, Exquisite Fragrant Green) has been faithfully reproduced from an original formula contained in a perfumery book by Okuno Seimeido’s founder Jinkoya Kyujiro handed down through the generations since the Kyoho era (1716-1736). Combining carefully selected aloeswood with deep, mellow notes, Tokusen Kunsui enhances this timeless fragrance with more than twelve types of aromatic ingredients.

Tokusen Kunsui's pale brown stick is sharp, with a resinous pine sweetness filled with tangy overtones and lively effervescence. Musky notes mingle with a masculine cologne like a samurai ancestor's armor displayed in the tokonoma. Leather and wood mingle with soft sweeter green tones that at times peak out with glances of fruity tanginess like passing movement in peripheral vision. Full of promise, Tokusen Kunsui's stick is exciting and demands to be lit.

Upon lighting, Tokusen Kunsui begins with a burst of sweet and sour green pine tones, sharp and delightfully tart. With time a powdery leathery quality develops, rich and luxurious, like a well worn favorite leather coat. Combined together, the warmth of the leather tone provides a balance for the more airy sharper green tones that float above it. The result is a woody fragrance that is clean, fresh, and energizing, yet grounded and comfortable from the very beginning.

As the stick warms, a bitterness develops like a fine dark roast coffee, softened by a number of light slightly sweet and sour notes that continue to give Tokusen Kunsui a lively effervescence. Over time, the select aloeswood at Tokusen Kunsui's base warms, increasing the bitter tones that add depth and richness to its coffee notes, expanding the palette of fragrant notes beautifully. The various notes combine together to produce a wonderfully warm sharp sweetness with hints of chocolate, cream, and green bitter earthy spice that is alive and bright, like winter sunshine through a window.

There is something thoroughly enjoyable about Tokusen Kunsui's warm bitter sweetness, like a warm cup of coffee on a winter morning savored in the peace of the early dawn. It is rich, yet not overwhelming, sharp yet moderated with sweetness, and sour yet refreshing. In many ways it reminds me of a time as a child enjoying a home cooked breakfast at my uncle's farm in the country, the old coffee pot dome peculating as frost framed the view of the pasture from the window over the breakfast table. 

Tokusen Kunsui's after-note deepens to a rich, earthy, and bitter fragrance like fine dark roast coffee. The sharpness during the burn no longer tempered by the sour green note turns decidedly sharper, with a deep acidity that is warm and penetrating bringing to mind a the warmth of a coffee house on a cool brisk day. Sweeter notes are still to be found, but now toasted, caramelized, and filled with warmth rather than light sweetness. As the tones fade, Tokusen Kunsui's proves to be powerful and long lasting, its richness inhabiting the space for hours. 

A masterwork of fragrance, Tokusen Kunsui is a beautiful tribute to the 280 years of Okuno Seimeido’s work perfecting the art of incense, and a lovely expression of aloeswood's enigmatic quality.

Smiles in silver frames
Frozen in old photographs
Gilded like frost upon winter windows.

Tokusen Kunsui is available in the following size:
60-stick box

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