Scented Charcoal Incense Sticks: The two most common types of incense sticks available are charcoal incense sticks and 'punk' sticks. Charcoal incense sticks are made by applying charcoal onto wooden sticks using a binder to stick the charcoal to the stick. The punk sticks are made by applying wooden sawdust or wood particles to the sticks using a binder. The incense sticks made by applying the charcoal or wood dust are unscented incense sticks. The unscented incense sticks are also called blanks. These sticks are then by dipped in fragrant oils to scent them. The incense sticks we have are made using charcoal. Charcoal incense sticks are cleaner burning than wooden sticks and give a truer scent on burning. Charcoal sticks also create less smoke than wooden punk sticks.