Opoponax resinoid is not as common today as it should be, perhaps due to its hardness (hence being offered here at 50% in natural odourless triethyl citrate). It is also known as sweet myrrh which is understandable as it has a delightfully sweet caramel note making it especially valuable nowadays due to the popularity of gourmand scents.

Unsurprisingly it blends well with other gourmand notes and with the other perfumery resins. Opoponax resinoid is not to be confused with the unrelated amber bases sold under the same name.

In the words of the great Steffen Arctander, "Opoponax is a natural oleo-gum-resin, formed as a physiological product in natural cavities or tubular vessels in the parenchym (where most of the tree’s activity takes place,) between the bark and the wood. Harvesters make incisions in the trunks, but some opoponax flows out by itself. The crude botanical product is dark reddish, rarely dark yellow or brownish, and it occurs in comparatively regular lumps, tear shaped or bean shaped, of nut size to walnut size. Its odor is sweet-aromatic, reminiscent of spicy soups (a faint resemblance to celery or lovage,) a sweet-woody undertone, and a peculiar, animal-like, also sweet and root-like note. Although to a certain degree reminiscent of myrrh, the typical difference is that opoponax has a spicy, and an animal, root-like note, neither of which is hardly, if at all, distinguishable in myrrh. The difference in odor is wide."

Origin: Ethiopia
Variety: Commiphora erythraea glabrescens
Part: Exudate
Method: Solvent extraction