Burberry was originally founded in Basingstoke, England in 1856 . Since then, Burberry has grown into one of the worlds biggest luxury fashion houses, with headquarters in London the company has established a global presence and has revenues in the billions.
Although Burberry is most famous for their ready-to-wear collections, they’ve become known in the past decade for their fragrances lines. The house has made a conscious effort to expand their line of mens colognes and to acquire some of the market from competing houses.
In the early 2000’s Burberry struggled with reputation problems , caused by lower prices and a football hooligan culture. To try and rectify their issues, Burberry has increased prices once again and made their brand exclusive. Their fragrance line is a part of that mission, with prices higher than competitors and expensive ingredients that exude luxury.
Burberry London for Men EDT
London for Men by Burberry was created by Antoine Maisondieu , a renowned perfumer who went on to create the famous Armani Code and Velvet Orchid for Tom Ford. Antoine is a fantastic perfumer and he did an excellent job with London.
Some men have described London for Men as Christmas in a bottle, mainly because of the pine, spice and wood notes that are relatively strong.
On the top notes you’ll find bergamot, lavender and cinnamon. Although the cinnamon is hard to notice according to some, the lavender and bergamot are very noticeable. The heart is dominated by the sweetness of the port wine, quickly allowing for the base wood and moss smells to come through.
Overall, this is the best burberry cologne and isn’t overwhelming at any level and is available at a reasonable price. This could be characterized as a sweet but fresh winter fragrance and would be best suited to colder months of the year.
Burberry Brit for Men EDT
Just like London, Brit for Men was also created by the talented Antoine Maisondieu . Originally launched in 2004, Brit has stuck around and is still a popular fragrance.
Brit for Men doesn’t get nearly the praise that it should, it’s been overshadowed by some more commercially successful fragrances. The projection and longevity for an EDT at this price is very good, you’ll notice it throughout the day and some have even suggested that you can smell in on your skin into the next day.
The top notes are diverse with green mandarin, ginger, bergamot and cardamom. However, you’re mainly going to pick up the cardamom and ginger, they are much heavier scents and do overpower the mandarin.
Regardless, that spice and citrus opening gives way to a more traditional floral and wood heart. Finally, there are strong wood and musk base notes that anchor the spicy ginger notes particularly well.
Overall, it’s a relatively pleasant fragrance. Where this stands out is the projection which is particularly good. Although it’s not the best fragrance in the world, it’s one of the best burberry colognes available.
Burberry for Men EDT
Burberry for Men is one of their longest standing signature fragrances, originally released way back in 1995, it’s still in production and can be found in many retail stores as well as online.
This isn’t a particularly complex fragrance, it smells like a sweet dessert and is characterized by spicy fruit and a sweet base.
On the top notes you’ll mainly pick up a green apple and peach note, backed by bergamot that makes it interesting. These spice and fruit notes are anchored by heavy musk and vanilla base notes. Overall, this create a sweet apple pie dessert scent that is pleasing on the nose and not overly powerful.
The projection or longevity isn’t as impressive as Brit for Men, but for an EDT at this price point it’s competitive. However, it’s not universally loved as much as Brit or London, so it would be hard to rank this as the best burberry cologne for men.
Burberry Touch for Men EDT
Touch was released in 2000 and has received mixed reviews. There is a heavy tonka bean base note that is particularly strong and if you don’t like that sort of scent then you’re not going to enjoy Touch for Men.
However, if you can get over that note you’ll find a classic floral and citrus fragrance that has some interesting notes like a strong pepper that hits you in the face. This is a spring or summer fragrance that could be worn any time of the day.
The main reason this was ranked lower down the list was because it’s not as universally liked. This is a standout fragrance to many men and if you’re looking for something different then this could be a nice change.
Burberry Brit Rhythm for Men EDT
Brit Rhythm for Men is another Burberry fragrance that features a noticeable ‘tonka bean’ note. Again, if you don’t like that smell then it’s going to ruin the whole fragrance for you.
Fortunately, it’s not quite as strong as it is in Touch, but then again the whole fragrance isn’t quite as appealing either. On the top notes you’ll find basil, cardamom and juniper berry. As you might expect, the cardamom is overpowering but it will fade in 30-minutes.
Once that note fades you’ll find a leather and wood fragrance that is a little smoky too. If anything, it smells like meat cooking on a fire in the woods.
Overall, it’s not the most appealing fragrance but it’s certainly different. It seems that some men enjoy it but the general consensus was that it was mediocre.
Burberry Weekend for Men EDT
Weekend for Men has split reviewers in the past quite distinctly. It’s easy to understand why, the citrus and fruit notes on the top are extremely strong when you first smell it. The nature of reviews is that your first impressions will have a huge impact.
Unfortunately, that first blast is strong. Some guys have referred to it as a citrus flavored industrial floor cleaner! Fortunately, that citrus blast does give way to a more pleasant wood heart that is anchored by musk.
Some men have reported smelling amber and honey, obviously, mileage will vary depending on your own skin but also how well developed your nose is.
Overall, there are better Burberry colognes out there.
Mr Burberry EDT
Mr Burberry is the newest fragrance on this list, being released in 2016. Unfortunately, it’s also the lowest scoring on this list. The overwhelming majority of reviews were either neutral or negative, making it hard to be positive about the direction of Burberry.
It seems obvious looking at the reviews of past Burberry fragrances that the best years are behind them. Hopefully in the future they’ll be able to bring back some of those classic scents that made them so popular in the first place.
Mr Burberry has been described as a generic mall scent that offers nothing new or interesting. Anyone who is interested in fragrances knows how much copycatting goes on, that’s the nature of the game, but it seems that Burberry has taken it too far this time.
On the top notes you’ll find grapefruit and cardamom, an interesting mix of spice and bitter fruit that is a nice change from the typical orange and spice flavors we are getting bored of.
The base notes include sandalwood and vetiver, creating quite a traditional fragrance. Overall, the reviews have been disappointing and you’re most likely going to enjoy some of the older fragrances that have stood the test of time.
How we Ranked the Colognes
Most products are relatively easy to rank because they aren’t subjective, you can simply look at the features, reviews and price, making the decision very simple. However, with fashion and fragrances a lot of the decision is subjective. Of course, some things are more universally appealing than others, but it makes it difficult to rank them.
To try and get around this issue we’ve decided to look at fragrances from a majority perspective, trying to suggest the colognes that we think the most people will enjoy.
There are a few different factors that we took into account:
Price: When looking at luxury fashion houses price can often go out of the window. However, even between different Burberry fragrances there are substantial price differences. Within price we looked at the cost per application and then the value based on the quality of the fragrance.
Scent: Obviously, the most important factor in choosing a fragrance is how it actually smells. We were looking for universal scents, nothing too experimental but also nothing boring. We wanted complexity, something that smells good on the top nose but is still interesting later in the day.
Longevity: All of the scents we looked at in this article were EDT’s and so we didn’t expect great longevity. However, even within a single strength category you can get vastly different longevities, so we looked for fragrances that sticked around.
Projection: Projection is a sensitive issue among fragrance connoisseurs . You want enough so that the people talking to you can smell it, but you don’t want the entire room to be gagging on your cologne. Finding the right balance is difficult even for the makers, so it was interesting to look at how the different perfumers over the years have approached it.