Chinotto Gourmand

This was a blind buy at a niche perfumery. I hadn't experimented much with gourmands, mostly reaching for smoke or fire in the colder months. The closest I'd really gone to gourmand was Atelier Cologne's Vanille Inscensé - which remains the only true vanilla I wear. For some reason this struck me as so joyful, like the AC Vanille, there's a citrus note that brightens the caramel and vanilla - preventing it from turning that sickly sweet most gourmands suffer from. I don't think I would've gotten this were it not on sale and such a small bottle, but it's been a go-to this winter and opened the doors to playing with more gourmand and warm, sugary scents after years of being jaded by vanilla body sprays and other cheap sweet scents. Chinotto opens with an almost boozy amaretto and dries down to a luxurious almond caramel popcorn and candied orange peel, there are whispers of woody, white floral - almost powdery which mature the fragrance and provide dimension. It's long lasting, about 8hrs, with arms-length projection. Doesn't transform much, but the caramel and woodiness sticks around longest.

Purfumesniffer does a great job describing Chinotto Gourmand; starts off as a powdery floral soap-like scent (probably due to the addition of orange blossom), on top of a bread-like gourmand treat. It’s similar to Jeau de Peau in structure, another perfume I own and love, but Chinotto has the bitter orange note, making it a wonderfully unique perfume. I have never heard of the brand Abaton, and had never known about the small bitter Chinotto orange. And I won’t be forgetting it anytime soon, this is lovely. My friend just bought this yesterday and gave me a sample, so I’m wearing Chinotto Gourmand for the first time today. Impressive performance considering this perfume is an EDT. Overall a solid, interesting spring-time floral gourmand perfume.

I love this and I don't know why. It's a delicious gourmand without being a nauseatingly sticky mess. My attempt to explain what it smells like is so unappetizing, but I'll give it a go any way... Up top is a blast of pithy citrus, it sweetens and dries powdery. The orange blossom is sitting right ontop of a creamy, lactonic note that reminds me of slightly scorched milk. Toss in some burnt sugar, vanilla, almonds, tonka bean and something ever so slightly balsamic. Why does it make sense? I have no idea but it's lovely, unique, wearable and fresh...what the heck. I ordered a bottle today. For an edt it wore a good six hours on me, so I was very impressed. Totally unisex, and there is a edp version in a 30ml bottle.

First blast of orangey freshness, followed by caramel, then a powdered sugar doll head dry down. I love it.

Sweet unisex gourmand. After being wowed by Chinotto Dark - in quality and longevity I scrambled to get a bottle of this too. Unlike Chinotto Dark where Chinotto is the star, I feel here this is a slightly salty caramel with vanilla filling the middle, blowing out the sugar intake for the day - the orange blossom is detectable but it is more so complimentary to help bolden the caramel. The Chinotto seems to sit behind all this brightening it and giving it an earthy base at the same time. Over time the Chinotto becomes stronger as the other notes fade. Quite strong (as you’d expect for an EDP) but Dark was also strong and it was and EDT. For daily wear or business this is easily for ladies though the darkness helps make this a great mature novelty scent for men. Much better than say Shay and Blue Salted Caramel. After trying it a few times it’s won me over and I hope to see more releases from Abaton.