What defines "gourmand"?

Gourmand is a sweety note that you would eat (candy, fruity, vanilla, chocolate...) but there is multiple declinaison depending the perfume. I don't think you can defines it with a particular coffee note (for example), it's more an overall impression.

Gourmand to me is, as Mon-Petit says above, an overall impression. And it can be subjective, but generally anything that seems sweet and "foody" to you can be considered gourmand. Vanilla and/or fruit with spices (like anise or cinnamon). Coconut. Chocolate, certainly, lends this quality. For more chocolaty scents, you might check out Tom Ford Black Orchid and Sarah Jessica Parker Covet. Covet isn't necessarily gourmand to me, as it's mostly a vivid green floral with some chocolate, to my nose. I dislike it, and most all scents with chocolate, actually. I'd call it gourmand if there was vanilla and perhaps some fruit in it as well, but Covet is floral rather than foody, and it isn't sweet, which it should be to be considered gourmand. I agree that coffee-based scents can be gourmand if there's notable sweetness going on too. Other fragrances besides Black Orchid that seems to define gourmand are Lolita Lempicka Au Masculin and Tierry Mugler's Angel.

Gourmand is a very new classification, within the last ten to fifteen years or so. Angel was one of the very first to explore scent with these edible notes of vanilla, fruit, and chocolate. Citrus doesn't qualify as a gourmand because citrus has been a standard note in perfumery for hundreds of years. Ditto herbaceous scents with notes of rosemary or lavender. Sure, you can eat them if you wanted to. You can eat rose petals too. But citrus, herbs, and florals in perfumery are already long-established families in their own right, evoking a definite olfactory reaction rather than a gustatory response. Gourmand is usually more dessert-like and definitely sweet or even syrupy.

Anyway, just go sniff some of the ones I mentioned above and I'm sure you'll get that, "Ah, ha!" moment. If possible, check out some Serge Lutens like Arabie and Louve as well. No chocolate, but definitely foody and dessert-like, and definitely belong in the gourmand category as well, imo.

I never thought of this one as a gourmand, but one day I oversprayed Nautica Blue and my wife told me I smelled like burnt pancakes. It pained me to realize she was right.