How Asian perfume brands are expanding the gourmand palette
Gourmand fragrance is moving beyond familiar notes of vanilla and confectionery, as Asian perfume houses draw on regional ingredients and personal food memories to create more culturally specific scents.
Its next launch, Under The Mango Tree, arrives in October 2026. The fragrance takes its inspiration from the mango tree that stood outside Wai Hnin’s childhood home in Yangon, continuing Gabar’s practice of translating specific memories into scent.
It follows Gabar’s Deities collection, which offers a broader interpretation of gourmand fragrance through stories about three mythical creatures from Southeast Asian folklore.
Balu, priced at £150, combines dates and blackcurrant leaf with molasses, condensed milk and cocoa. Galone, also £150, pairs sesame and nutmeg absolute with smoked nuts and volcanic caramel, bringing savoury and toasted elements to a category often dominated by sweetness.
"We're seeing perfumers explore ingredients and food memories that aren't traditionally associated with Western gourmand perfumery, such as sesame, spices, condensed milk, nuts and regional fruits," said Wai Hnin.
These references carry meaning beyond novelty. For Asian-founded brands in particular, food offers a direct connection to cultural experience. The smell of toasted sesame, a cup of condensed-milk tea, ripe tropical fruit or spices warming in a kitchen.
“I think Asia will continue to have a major influence on niche perfumery, not only through ingredients but through the perspectives of a new generation of Asian fragrance brands,” said Wai Hnin.
Even major fragrance houses are embracing these cultures. Byredo, the globally acclaimed house founded by Swedish-born Ben Gorham, whose heritage is Indian and Canadian, has increasingly drawn on his Indian roots in its creations. Mumbai Noise, for example, channels the energy and sensory richness of Mumbai through a bold blend of coffee, sandalwood and tonka.
At Gabar, Under The Mango Tree will further extend this approach, placing a mango-infused childhood memory from Yangon at the centre of the brand’s next fragrance.
