JOUSSET
GOURMAND BAKHOOR

2020

PERFUMER
JIMMY BODIN

Caramel
Milk
Smoke

Caramel
Leather

Toffee
Hinoki incense

Gourmand Bakhoor is the most milky fragrance that I’ve come across. I was expecting this fragrance to be in the direction of Kilian Black Phantom, but it remains much brighter.

It’s extremely creamy and milky, with a lot of sweetness, but I don’t get much of the smokiness and I definitely don’t pick up on the leather note that is listed. There’s a slight hint of smokiness in the base and it’s a ‘warm’ fragrance in the sense that it’s comforting, but it’s not a ‘burning’ heat or smokiness that you get in some seemingly similar gourmands and ambers.

I keep getting slightly fruity wafts from the opening, like a soft peach scent. I’ve seen others talk about the milkiness having a sour tinge on their skin, which is probably what I’m getting at. It doesn’t smell bad; it’s not like spoiled milk, but it’s a thing to note and ultimately it kept me from loving Gourmand Bakhoor.

I think that fruity tinge adds a feminine leaning edge, but only to the opening. The sweetness is heavy on the caramel side, not too sugary, but not very complex to me either. If anything there’s a bit of honey added to the caramel. It’s very much like a desert; it reminds me of a melted caramel sundae from McDonalds.

Overall, it’s a good release and at a good price, especially for an extrait de parfum (€84/50ml). The performance was good on my skin. It’s not as dark of a fragrance as I expected and I think the overly lactonic nature of Gourmand Bakhoor can put some people off.

Sidenote: I found that layering it with Akro Awake (strong coffee) worked really well; basically adding sweetened milk or creamer to the coffee. I think layering with most darker gourmands would be a good idea.