Dark Myrrh Essential Oil Versus Light Myrrh Essential Oil - Why the difference?

Have you ever compared a dark myrrh to a light colored myrrh essential oil? The difference is pretty astounding! I have ALWAYS used a dark colored myrrh and then I received our newest batch and I wondered... Dark Myrrh essential oil versus light Myrrh essential oil - why the difference?

Pictured above are two myrrhs. They are the exact same species, the resin is from the same general location, and they are distilled using the same method - steam distillation.

So why is one sooooo much lighter than the other?

Looking at all of my notes on both, the darker one was distilled in August of 2015. It has some wonderful smoky undertones and is very viscous. This particular one was grown wild in Somalia where the resin was harvested and distilled later in the US.

The lighter one was distilled in December of 2016 so it is much younger. It has a very similar aroma although not as heavy smoky undertones as the older one. Also it still appears to have very similar viscosity to the older one. This particular Myrrh was grown wild in Somalia where the resin was harvested and distilled later in Spain.

Apart from the location of distillation and the age, I have to wonder if one was stored in refrigeration and the other not. The color is significantly lighter for the new one. My nose is telling me the younger of the two will age quite well but I am not so sure about the color so I will be asking some questions to my favorite chemists very soon.

In the meantime, I sent a sample of the new batch off to the lab last week although I have not received a "we have your samples" notice. I am hoping they are just that busy at the lab. Goodness knows I have been busy here!

All this to say, if you want any of the older batch of Myrrh essential oil, I have a very small amount left. You need to order it before it is gone. I won't release the new one until I have the analysis confirming purity with such a difference in color.