Gourmand

What it is

A whole category rather than a note, dated to Thierry Mugler's Angel in 1992. Caramel, chocolate, praline, coffee and bakery notes, built mostly from ethyl maltol and its relatives.

What it smells like

It smells like food, and that is the whole proposition. The divide is not about the quality of the blend but about whether you want to smell edible, and no amount of craft moves somebody from one side of that to the other.

How strongly it is worn

The average strength this accord is listed at, where 100 means it dominates the fragrance.

79 / 100

What builds it

How much more often than the catalogue average. 1.0x would be chance, so these are the things that genuinely travel with it rather than the things that are simply common.

Accords it sits beside

Same measure, with its own family filtered out. Saying woody turns up with oud is a restatement, not a finding.

When it is worn

Against the average fragrance here. The line marks that average, so a bar past it means this is worn in that season or setting more than most.

Houses that use it most

Counted across the fragrances here, which reflects what we cover as much as what a house makes.

Carolina Herrera (26), Jean Paul Gaultier (22), Kilian (22), Givenchy (21), Yves Saint Laurent (20), Guerlain (19).