Dark brown to amber viscous semi-solid resinoid with warm, sweet, balsamic odor
Producing Countries
Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia
Pyramid
Base
Warm, sweet-balsamic with a soft, anise-myrrh quality. Opoponax smells like myrrh's gentler cousin — honeyed, resinous, with a subtle licorice sweetness.
Warm, sweet-balsamic with honey-anise quality. Softer and less bitter than myrrh, less vanillic than benzo in, with a particular licorice-sweet quality. Golden and rounded. On blotter, the sweet-balsamic character is persistent and enveloping.
Soft resinous heart. Licorice facet develops. Less bitter than myrrh.
After a few days
After a few days
Persistent warm-balsamic base. Honeyed residue. Good tenacity.
Grades & Aging
Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.
The Full Story
Resinoid obtained from the gum resin of Commiphora guidottii (sweet myrrh), native to East Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya). Opoponax is closely related to myrrh but has a softer, sweeter, less bitter character.
The scent is warm, sweet, and balsamic, with a particular honey-anise quality that myrrh lacks. Where myrrh is bitter-sweet and dark, opoponax is softer, more golden, and gently resinous. There is a subtle licorice-anise quality and a clean, balsamic warmth. Key arom a compounds include alph a-santalene, bergamotene, and various sesquiterpenes.
In perfumery, opoponax is known for soft, approachable resinous character. It provides balsamic warmth without myrrh's bitterness or benzo in's vanill a-sweetness.
Opoponax was called 'sweet myrrh' by the ancient Greeks and Romans, who used it as a perfume and medicine. The name derives from the Greek 'opos' (juice) and 'panax' (all-healing), reflecting its medicinal reputation — the same root that gives us 'panacea.'
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: Solvent extraction of the gum resin. Steam distillation yields an essential oil with a lighter profile. The resin is tapped from Commiphora guidottii trees by incision. Major production in Somalia and Ethiopia.
Dark brown to amber viscous semi-solid resinoid with warm, sweet, balsamic odor
In Perfumery
Base note in balsamic, amber, and incense compositions. Opoponax provides soft, honeyed resinous depth. It is used as a gentler alternative to myrrh in incense accords, in amber bases where sweetness without vanilla is desired, and in amber compositions. Functions as a fixative with good tenacity.
