I really appreciate smokeless incense in wintertime. I love the rich fragrance incense provides — but who wants a tightly closed house full of smoke? One of Baieido's (see Baieido Hinoki incense review for background) newest smokeless incense offerings is Honey.

Baieido's Honey incense smells sweet. I bought it unsniffed and when I smelled the incense sticks in the box I was worried. I’m not a lover of “sweets” when it comes to most fragrances, either for the body or the home. Baieido’s Honey incense brought to mind: "candy shop" "carnival" “state fair" "boardwalk" — it smelled like spun sugar, boiling sugar.

Thankfully those connotations vanished when I lit some Honey incense. There is a refreshing (and strong) wood note that diminishes Honey's sweetness. Naming this incense "Honey" is misleading: the incense aroma is not like smelling beeswax or honey in a jar, but more like taffy, caramel or cotton candy. (Mise en scène: a cold winter day, candy is being made in a small kitchen on top of a pot bellied stove; scents of burning wood and boiling sugar fill the air.)

One can "layer" incense as one layers perfumes. I have a bitter herbal incense from Tibet that smells much better when burned with a stick of Honey incense. I also plan on experimenting with floral incense burned with Honey.

Baieido’s Honey-Scented Incense Sticks are available in a flat box that contains approximately 200, 5-1/2 inch sticks ($20). Available at: essenceoftheages, scents-of-earth.