Crabtree & Evelyn — Moroccan Myrrh
Essence
Moroccan Myrrh is a discontinued men’s eau de cologne from Crabtree & Evelyn, launched in 2014 — but it is not a new fragrance at all. It is the house’s 1999 Nomad scent renamed and repackaged. In wear it is a soft, spicy-resinous oriental-fougère: peppery and bright up top, with myrrh, amber, and guaiac wood anchoring a warm base. The marketing leaned hard on the myrrh and desert-traveler theme, yet the juice itself is approachable, conservative, and well-blended rather than dramatic. Today it is chiefly remembered as a beloved, hard-to-find grooming line that its admirers mourn.
Scent Profile
The opening is spicy and slightly sweet, with a bright bergamot lift over black pepper and petitgrain that keeps it crisp and approachable. It reads “spicy yet fresh” rather than dark, a citrus-and-pepper top that signals the resin to come without front-loading it. The heart turns aromatic and clean. Cardamom cools the pepper while lavender and geranium thread a tidy fougère structure through the middle, bridging the citrus opening toward the warmer base. This is where the fragrance settles into its “clean, crisp and manly” character — well-mannered, never heavy. The drydown is the resin core: myrrh at the center, rounded by amber and given a smoky, dry edge by guaiac wood. The myrrh here is warm and approachable rather than bitter or medicinal, which is part of why the scent wears so easy. Several wearers note that the matching bath products, especially the hair and body wash, actually smell more intense than the cologne, which stays soft and restrained on skin.
Performance
Performance is modest, and it is the most common criticism — fitting for the lightweight cologne concentration. Expect a few hours of close, gentle wear: one detailed account reported roughly 3.5 hours with light projection and acceptable sillage in summer, and a reviewer described sillage that “radiates nicely, but not too far” without filling a room. It “sparkles” in blazing heat then fades. Because it shipped in a generous 100 ml bottle, reapplication is the practical workaround. Treat it as a warm-weather, close-wearing cologne rather than a projection beast.
Wearing Context
This is a spring and summer scent that blooms in heat, where the spice-and-resin accord opens up; one reviewer called it among the best things to wear in a heat wave. It is office-safe and conservative — present without shouting — and skews masculine for casual-to-smart-casual daytime wear. It makes an easy gift for men who like spicy, woody, smoky scents, and carries low social risk.
Comparisons & DNA
The single most useful reference is its own predecessor, Crabtree & Evelyn Nomad (1999), which the brand confirmed is the same scent under an older name. Within its family it sits in the conservative British-toiletry tradition of spicy oriental-fougères — softer and more restrained than mainstream spicy-amber masculines. As a substitute, one wearer pointed to Pré de Provence No. 63 as the nearest in general character and gentle performance, though not a true scent match. For contrast, fans of Comme des Garçons 2 and Givenchy Gentlemen Only Intense cluster around the same spicy-woody taste, but Moroccan Myrrh is the lighter, quieter cousin.
Reception
Among those who know it, reception is affectionate and nostalgic: “manly and beautiful,” “the interplay of notes is exceptionally well done,” and “smells really clean, crisp and manly” are typical praise. The two recurring laments are its soft performance and its discontinuation, with buyers pleading for a return and decrying “outrageous” resale prices. Polarization is mild — a minority, writing about the Nomad-era juice, found it “banal” or “bland,” or objected to a synthetic sandalwood, while others rate it among the house’s best. On value, the consensus is to grab it if found at a reasonable price but not to chase the inflated discontinued-resale figures.
Versions & Reformulation
The defining fact is the rename. Crabtree & Evelyn’s 2014 press release stated that “Nomad® is now Moroccan Myrrh and Sandalwood has been renamed Indian Sandalwood.” Tellingly, the house only renamed Nomad while it reformulated Sandalwood — the deliberate contrast in wording is the decisive evidence that Moroccan Myrrh is Nomad with the scent unchanged. The two are filed together as a single combined entry, and wearers independently confirm “Moroccan Myrrh is the same as Nomad, but in new packaging.” The differing published note-lists reflect changed marketing copy written years apart, not a recomposition. A minor batch drift over a 25-year span cannot be ruled out, and the matching shave soap drew complaints of poorer-lathering formulas over time — but that concerns the soap, not the cologne’s scent identity.
Acquisition Notes
Discontinued. It was originally an affordable cologne — the 2014 relaunch listed the 100 ml cologne at $45, with later retail near $60. It now commands steep resale prices, with figures cited into the hundreds, driven by scarcity rather than quality. A “type” recreation is sold by at least one fragrance-recreation house, and the matching grooming products (shave cream, body wash, after-shave balm) surface secondhand. Buyers should confirm they are getting the cologne rather than the body products, which admirers say smell stronger.
Notable Facts & Lore
- It is the 1999 Crabtree & Evelyn Nomad renamed for the 2014 men’s relaunch, not a new composition.
- The house renamed Nomad but reformulated Sandalwood in the same relaunch — proof the Moroccan Myrrh juice was left unchanged.
- The marketing traded on myrrh’s ancient lore, describing it as “gathered ‘tears’ of tree resin” once “valued like gold.”
- Its discontinuation made it a minor cult object in shaving forums, where users hoard remaining bottles and pucks.
- Soft performance and rarity, not quality, drive its high secondhand prices.