The Merchant of Venice — Myrrh Oud
Essence
Myrrh Oud (2024) is an Extrait de Parfum from the relaunched Murano Art Collection of The Merchant of Venice, the Mavive-owned Venetian house, composed by perfumer Jordi Fernandez. Despite the austere, devotional name, it is in practice a sweet, ambery rose-oud floriental rather than a smoky resin meditation - the myrrh is more a supporting accent than the smoldering centerpiece the title implies. Note that there are two distinct MOV fragrances called “Myrrh Oud”: an older 2015 release (an oriental-vanilla with elemi and licorice) and this 2024 Fernandez composition; they should not be conflated. Critical and specialist-forum coverage of the 2024 version is very thin, so this dossier leans on the brand’s documented composition plus the limited wearers signal available on wearers.
Scent Profile
The opening is a bright, spiced lift - bergamot freshness cut with cardamom and saffron - before the heart of myrrh, rose and orange blossom emerges. Per the house’s own account, the composition is “a potent blend of rich, warm ambery notes and an elegant floriental rose,” made “addictive through hints of sweet praline,” with a soft, comforting drydown of vanilla and tonka shaded by incense and cistus (labdanum). The single most useful independent data point comes from one wearer wearers wearer who compared it directly to Afnan’s 9PM line: “This smells similar/same DNA as Afnan 9PM elixir. I don’t have the JPG ones, but I do have 9PM and 9PM elixir and I compared them side by side. I think is closer to the Elixir than the regular 9pm.” Another wearers impression on the collection emphasized a smooth, “not dirty” oud with perceptible leather and fruity facets, invoking Louis Vuitton Ombre Nomade and Tom Ford Tuscan Leather as reference points. The honest synthesis: a polished, sweet-ambery saffron-rose-oud with praline/tonka warmth, where the myrrh reads as a soft smoky-resinous accent rather than the dominant note.
Performance
As a high-concentration extrait, performance expectations are strong, and the collection is marketed (and broadly received) as long-lasting with substantial sillage; the 2024 Murano Art line was explicitly built around “exceptional sillage and long-lasting performance” in 30ml extrait format. Independent, first-hand longevity data on this specific 2024 release is scarce, so precise hour counts should be treated cautiously - but the genre (saffron-rose-oud-amber extrait) and the 9PM-Elixir comparison both point toward a heavy, several-hours-plus performer best dosed conservatively.
Wearing Context
This is a cold-weather, evening, statement fragrance - a rich, sweet, spicy-ambery oud-rose squarely in the territory of opulent fall/winter and special-occasion wear. Its sweetness and density make it ill-suited to heat or office settings in any generous quantity.
Comparisons & DNA
The defining comparison from wearers is Afnan 9PM Elixir, with the wearer finding Myrrh Oud closer to the Elixir flanker than to standard Afnan 9PM - situating it within the hugely popular amber-saffron-praline accord that 9PM itself derives from. The genre’s prestige references invoked by wearers impressions of the collection are Louis Vuitton Ombre Nomade (the smoky rose-oud benchmark) and Tom Ford Tuscan Leather (for the leather facet). Within the MOV catalog, it shares the sweet-resinous-oriental DNA of stablemates like Vinegia 21 (a caramel/praline saffron-oud from the Murano Exclusive line) and the house’s various myrrh/oud orientals.
Reception
Reception is essentially undocumented at the critic level - no -2 or oud-specialist (Ouddict) coverage of the 2024 release surfaced, and wearers for it carried no written reviews at the time of research. This is a significant coverage gap given the fragrance’s recency (2024). The available wearers signal is limited but positive-leaning, centering on the smooth oud and the recognizable 9PM-family amber accord; some general MOV wearers sentiment cautions that the house can be “all over the place” and that quality is uneven across the range, so individual sampling is advised.
Versions & Reformulation
This is the 2024 Murano Art Collection Extrait de Parfum, offered in a 30ml glossy-black flacon with golden detailing and a flame-shaped cap, decorated with orange-and-yellow Murano murrine glasswork - part of a six-fragrance collection that had pre-premieres in Milan (March 2024) and at TFWA Cannes (October 2024) ahead of its autumn 2024 launch. The earlier 2015 MOV “Myrrh Oud” is a separate composition and should not be treated as the same fragrance reformulated.
Acquisition Notes
A current release available through niche retailers and the brand; the 30ml extrait sits at a luxury price point reflecting its high concentration. Because independent reviews are scarce and the house’s output is uneven, sampling before full-bottle commitment is the prudent path - and buyers searching online should take care to confirm they are purchasing the 2024 Fernandez Murano Art version (saffron/cardamom top) rather than the discontinued 2015 elemi/licorice version.
Notable Facts & Lore
- The Murano Art Collection is the house’s flagship conceit: it pairs high perfumery with the thousand-year Venetian tradition of Murano artistic glassmaking, with each flacon adorned in the colorful murrine patterning for which the island is famous.
- The Merchant of Venice was launched in 2013 by the Vidal family (Mavive), drawing on Venice’s historical identity as a perfumery and spice-trade crossroads - the “mude,” the city’s ancient maritime trade routes across Europe, Asia and Africa, are the brand’s organizing metaphor, which makes a saffron-rose-oud “Myrrh Oud” a thematically fitting evocation of those Eastern trade cargoes.