Guerlain really stretched itself on some of its newer compositions in the last few years such as Gourmand Coquin. This fragrance has received so many enthusiastic reviews despite the fact that it is not easily recognisable as a Guerlain that I simply could not ignore it. I admit I had some trepidation in purchasing GC because it is undeniably a gourmand, and I am not a gourmand lover per se. I do love some gourmand fragrances, e.g. B&BW has two gourmands that I adore, Sensual Amber and Cashmere Glow, but I would not classify myself a gourmand devotee. Nevertheless, the notes of dark chocolate, rose, and rum appealed, especially after one well respected reviewer wrote that the rum and chocolate notes smelt like an expensive, not too sweet, cherry liquor, so after a year or longer on my radar, I finally purchased GC. What follows are my first impressions. I will update this review if and whence my impressions change.
Upon application, GC smells quite foodie to my nose---no surprise there. Specifically, it smells rather like dry, crumbly cookies of some sort, which I found quite disappointing. Initially, it could be mistaken for a B&BW body spray which is not at all a good thing at this price point. I do not detect pepper in the top notes. I do not care for the top notes at all I am sorry to say. To my surprise, the heart notes took quite a while to open, but once they did, I liked the fragrance a bit more. The dry cookie aroma continued to project within arm's length around me, but it was slowly dissipating. Unfortunately, as I love the idea of roses and chocolate together, I really could not distinguish any rose or chocolate or tea for that matter. The fragrance still smelt rather foodie to me throughout the duration of the heart notes---again not surprisingly, and I began to think GC was not one of my good blind buys at all even if it had only cost as little as a B&BW body spray.
However, by the deep dry down, the fragrance smelt so much better. The base notes are far less foodie than the top and heart notes. They do smell "edible" but in a much less literal and more more abstract way. I love the deep dry down. I detect dark chocolate and a not sour but not uber sweet cherry note that together are quite appealing. There may be a faint tinge of rose at this point, but I am not sure. My biggest surprise, however, was that the closer is my nose to the fragrance on my skin, the better it smells! I do not find this to be true of all my fragrances by any means. GC smells quite delicious very close up, but I cannot really say what it must smell like to someone within in a couple of feet of me. Perhaps it smells more like dry cookies to someone near me---a wholly unappealing thought. It is as though the perfumer, Christine Nagel, purposely composed the fragrance in such a way as to draw in ever closer the noses around the wearer, and indeed the wearer herself. The scent trail begins with, for want of a better descriptor, dry cookies, and ends with the most delicious chocolatey, boozy, not too sweet cherry liquor. I am not sure I would describe GC as "rascally," the translation for Coquin, as much as demonstrating the type of coquettish flirtation that might come naturally to a quite young woman.
Personally, I would love to detect more rose and far, far less cookie in this fragrance, but I do like it. However, and perhaps I am prejudiced, I do not think it warrants its price point, at least not whence one considers how many masterpieces Guerlain has in its portfolio at a much lower price point. I love so many of Guerlain's incomparable classics as well as some of its newer fragrances, e.g. Encens Mythique and Angelique Noire, both of which I find to be more properly "perfume," that GC perhaps cannot but be something of a disappointment. Please do not misunderstand. The quality is excellent as one would expect from Guerlan, but I question where or not GC fits well with the rest of Guerlain's magnificent stable of fragrances. GC just may be too "young" for my nose, but the house surely must appeal to a wider demographic than just the mature, sophisticated woman and man if it is to remain relevant in the decades to come. Yes, I do like GC. I am not sure if I will come to love it, though.
The best part of this fragrance is the delicious deep dry down, and to Guerlain's credit, that fabulous dry down persists for at least 12-14 hours on my skin, and not many fragrances these days do this. If I could get the dry down right from the start, and if the fragrance had a bit more projection and sillage, I think it might be a love for me from first sniff because the dry down is undoubtedly more sophisticated than the top and heart, but at this price, I am not happy to wait through the so-so top and heart notes to get to the delicious dry down. Longevity is very good, though, and the closer someone comes to the wearer, the more delicious she will smell. Thus, these are both the good and the bad aspects of GC for me personally.
I want to give myself more time with GC in different weather conditions before I reach any final conclusions about it. In my experience, temperature and humidity can dramatically effect any fragrance. For example, Lutens Mandarin Mandarine did not wow me initially whence I wore it indoors. Like many other reviewers, I detected a less than pleasant celery note in it, but whence I walked outdoors into a cold, breezy Winter evening, the fragrance soared around me and smelt so glorious that I could hardly believe it was the same fragrance.
Perhaps GC requires the right occasion or a specific mood for someone such as myself for it to become a love, whereas a much younger woman might feel comfortable reaching for this fragrance daily. Right now, all I can say with any certainly is that time will tell whether or not GC turns into a love for me, and closer is most definitely better. The deep dry down is delicious and smells of quality, but not so much the top and heart notes. At the moment, and I am chagrined to say so, I find GC far better suited to women than to men, and to far young women than to older women. One last thought to share is this. GC would make a lovely Christmas or Valentine's Day gift. On those occasions, I believe it could work for any age group.
Fragrance: 6.90/10
Sillage; 6/10
Projection: 6/10
Longevity: 10/10
ETA 24 November 20: The more I wear this one the more I enjoy it, especially the dry down and especially at this time of year. It is a perfectly festive fragrance. I love the boozy chocolate in the dry down.
Top Notes 
Black pepper
Heart Notes 
Smoked tea
Rose
Base Notes 
Chocolate
Rum
BertolucciK
Hatka
K84
Aromazeal
Embomb
Elkay
