M. Micallef — Gourmet
Essence
Gourmet is a 2017 fragrance whose name is deliberately misleading. Instead of a soft dessert, it presents roasted chestnut, frankincense smoke, leather, oud, labdanum, and vanilla: a challenging cold-weather oriental where gourmand sweetness is teased, then overtaken by smoke.
Scent Profile
The opening can be startling. Smoke, tar, incense, leather, tart raspberry, and a roasted nut effect arrive together. Some wearers read this as burnt tire, liquor, or melted plastic before the composition settles; others find it thrillingly strange. Chestnut becomes the heart’s central material, joined by a buttery vanilla suggestion and a quiet violet shade. The sweet facet is real but never uncomplicated. Phenolic leather and incense keep pulling the fragrance away from a conventional pastry accord. In the drydown, smoke, leather, labdanum, and a restrained medicinal oud remain prominent while vanilla and chestnut sit closer to skin. The result is smoky, leathery, nutty, and only intermittently gourmand.
Performance
Gourmet is long-lasting and projects strongly at first, with fabric persistence extending far beyond a day. One or two sprays are enough. Cold dry air suits it; heat can push the smoky, meaty facets into uncomfortable territory.
Wearing Context
It is firmly a fall and winter evening fragrance. It works for a personal cold-weather indulgence, intimate settings, and anyone who enjoys incense, leather, and oud. It is unisex, though the smoke and leather can read masculine. Offices and hot weather are poor fits.
Comparisons & DNA
Le Feu d’Issey is the key comparison for its hard-to-place lactonic-smoky effect. Micallef Aoud Gourmet is sweeter and more honeyed, while Gourmet is drier, smokier, and more leather-forward. The point is not familiar gourmand comfort, but smoky oriental tension.
Reception
Gourmet is intensely polarizing. Admirers call it deep, classy, smoky, and unusually well blended; detractors describe burnt tire, smoked meat, or spoiled milk. The central advice is simple: do not blind buy it as a dessert fragrance. Sample it only if a smoky incense-leather profile is genuinely welcome.
Versions & Reformulation
It is a single EDP with no documented reformulation. The Secrets of Love collection has changed presentation from earlier 75 ml bottles to newer 100 ml packaging, but that is not evidence of a juice change.
Acquisition Notes
Gourmet is frequently encountered as 75 ml stock, with smaller travel formats and decants also available. Sampling is essential because the sharp smoky opening is the fragrance’s central experience, not a brief phase to endure.
Notable Facts & Lore
- Gourmet launched in 2017 in the Secrets of Love collection.
- Its name creates an intentional dessert-versus-smoke bait and switch.
- Roasted chestnut is the key gourmand material.
- Frankincense, leather, and oud are more important than sugary sweetness.