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Myrrh

RESINS AND BALSAMS / resinous · bitter · smoky

Myrrh

Category	RESINS AND BALSAMS
Subcategory	resinous · bitter · smoky
Origin
Volatility	Base Note
Botanical	Commiphora myrrha (Nees) Engl.
Appearance	reddish brown paste
Odor Strength	Medium
Producing Countries	Ethiopia, Kenya, Oman, Somalia, Yemen
Pyramid	Base

Dark, bitter, medicinal. Myrrh smells like dissolving a lump of old resin in hot water — balsamic heat, a sharp iodine-like bite, and a faint sweetness buried under antiseptic dryness. Where frankincense is bright and terpenic, myrrh is opaque and brooding.

Scent
Terroir & Origins
The Full Story
Fun Fact
Extraction & Chemistry
In Perfumery

Scent

Sharp, balsamic-bitter opening with a medicinal, almost antiseptic edge — the smell of a bandage soaked in dark resin. An iodine-like dryness separates myrrh from softer balsams like benzoin or tolu. As the top clears, a warm, smoky sweetness surfaces: earthy, faintly animalic, with a dusty opacity that recalls old church stone. Compared to frankincense’s pine-lemon crispness, myrrh is heavy and introspective. Compared to opoponax, it is drier, more bitter, less honeyed. The drydown is persistent, warm, and dark — old wood, spent incense, dried resin on warm skin.

Evolution over time

Immediately

Sharp, balsamic, medicinal. A bitter resinous attack with an antiseptic, iodine-like edge and a faint metallic undertone. Confrontational.

After a few hours

The bitterness recedes. A warm, dark, smoky sweetness emerges — earthy, faintly animalic, with a dusty, almost powdery texture. The medicinal bite softens into resinous warmth.

After a few days

A warm, dry, dark residue on fabric. Sweet-balsamic, lightly smoky, deeply atmospheric. The smell of spent incense and old resin on stone.

Grades & Aging

Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.

The Full Story

Myrrh is the bitter-balsamic oleo-gum-resin tapped from Commiphora myrrha (Nees) Engl. and several closely related Commiphora species (Burseraceae), native to the Horn of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The resin exudes when the bark is wounded and hardens into reddish-brown 'tears' — the historical product traded along the incense routes since at least the second millennium BCE.

Chemistry

The essential oil (CAS 8016-37-3, steam-distilled from the resin) is dominated by furanosesquiterpenes — furanoeudesma-1,3-diene (CAS 87605-93-2) and curzerene (CAS 17910-09-7) [A] — that give myrrh its characteristic bitter-medicinal-balsamic angle, distinct from the more incense-spicy character of frankincense. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (β-elemene, germacrene) and small amounts of phenolic compounds round out the profile.

In a fragrance

Myrrh sits in the base — its substantivity is high, the bitter-medicinal character persistent on skin for days. It pairs naturally with frankincense, labdanum, vanilla, dark woods. In ecclesiastical contexts (Catholic, Coptic, Orthodox liturgy), myrrh has been continuously burnt or anointed for two millennia and is one of the oldest perfumery materials in continuous use.

Sources & Notes

[A] PubChem records for furanosesquiterpenes — furanoeudesma-1,3-diene CAS 87605-93-2, curzerene CAS 17910-09-7. The bitter-medicinal sesquiterpene chemistry of myrrh, distinct from frankincense's diterpenoid-rich profile.

Did You Know?

Did you know?

In 1983, Carl Heinz Brieskorn and Pia Noble at the University of Würzburg identified furanoeudesma-1,3-diene as the principal odorant of myrrh — a furanosesquiterpene later shown to interact with opioid receptors in the brain, which may explain why myrrh resin has been used as an analgesic across cultures for millennia.

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method: Resin tears are harvested by scoring the bark of Commiphora myrrha; the exudate hardens over 1–2 weeks and is collected by hand. Somalia and Ethiopia are the primary producing countries. Steam distillation of resin tears: yield 4–8% essential oil. The resulting oil is yellow-amber to greenish-brown, dominated by furanosesquiterpenes. Supercritical CO2 extraction: captures heavier sesquiterpenes and triterpenoids lost in steam distillation, producing a more complete olfactory profile closer to the crude resin. Solvent extraction produces the absolute — darker, denser, more balsamic than the essential oil. A resinoid is also commercially available.

↑ See Terroir & Origins for origin-specific methods.

Molecular Formula	C₁₅H₁₈O (Furanoeudesma-1,3-diene, key odorant) · C₁₅H₂₂O (Curzerene)
CAS Number	8016-37-3
Botanical Name	Commiphora myrrha (Nees) Engl.
IFRA Status	No blanket restriction on myrrh essential oil. Myrrh resinoid/absolute: restricted per IFRA 51st Amendment (sensitization concern, category-specific limits). Verify form-specific limits against current IFRA standard.
Synonyms	MYRRHE · MOR · COMMIPHORA · BITTER RESIN · HEERABOL
Physical Properties
Odor Strength	Medium
Lasting Power	400 hours at 100.00%
Appearance	reddish brown paste
Flash Point	> 200.00 °F. TCC ( > 93.33 °C. )
Specific Gravity	0.98800 to 1.01700 @ 25.00 °C.
Refractive Index	1.51700 to 1.52800 @ 20.00 °C.

In Perfumery

Myrrh is a base-note anchor in incense, Amber, and sacred compositions. It provides the dark, balsamic counterweight to brighter resinous materials — particularly frankincense, with which it has been paired since antiquity. In Amber fragrances, myrrh reinforces the warm resinous base alongside benzoin, labdanum, and vanill a. In chypres, it introduces a bitter, medicinal depth that prevents the composition from cloying. Functionally, myrrh acts as a fixative and atmospheric modifier. Its tenacity is moderate compared to synthetic fixatives, but its real value is tonal: it creates a sense of depth, age, and gravity that few other naturals replicate. The CO2 extract retains heavier, more complex qualities than steam-distilled oil and is generally preferred in fine fragrance. Myrrh pairs structurally with frankincense (brightness against darkness), benzoin (amplifying balsamic warmth), labdanum (reinforcing amber-resinous bases), and rose (where it adds shadow to floral transparency). It is indispensable in any serious incense accord.