Mr. Burberry Indigo by Burberry

Helpful Review

4

A lean, green, herbal cuisine

Superficially, the Mr. Burberry line was created in response to the current waning trend of marketing mass-appealing quasi-aquatic, quasi-spicy, quasi-fruity citrus woodies to fill the versatile needs of the common consumer. Despite the original Mr. Burberry being a decent, yet somewhat lackluster scent with a ‘gentlemanly’ twist, it seems as though the brand has been taking more interesting risks with each subsequent flanker.

With none other than Francis Kurkdjian – mr. crystalline lemonmint himself at the helm, I found myself rather taken with the spice-heavy Mr. Burberry edp and seriously considered picking up a bottle, despite its lukewarm reception by the online community. It’s a fairly simple scent to be sure, but well executed for a designer freshie, and with very decent performance. So it was no surprise that I was interested in sampling Indigo when it finally came out.

Unfortunately, nothing would prepare me for the herbal BLAST that met my nose the first time I smelled Mr. Burberry Indigo on paper. Blue? Indigo? Nah. The stuff wasn’t even green. Instead, it was so vegetal that it reminded me of grappling with my older brother in our backyard as kid and having my face rubbed into a clump of weeds. Nuthin’ but green plantstuffs RIGHT up my nose. Unbelievably brave for a designer to release something like that in 2018 and still manage a spike in sales. Needless to say, I was turned off – perhaps for good.

But then, after having my eyes burned out watching droves and droves of cheap, sweet, woody ambers flood the market, my nose just couldn’t deal with the lollipop guild anymore. I needed something to balance the influx of saccharine – something more down to earth, green, fresh or herbal; something minty, something… And then I recalled that time I smelled Indigo and wouldn’t you know it, within a week I had a bottle.

Yeah. It’s just how I remembered it. A great big herbal blast of violet leaf, rosemary and fresh spearmint in the opening with a bit of sour lemon kicking in the background. If you’re imagining a citrus opening, get that right out of your mind because it’s anything but. Instead, it’s like tearing out garden plants with your bare hands and feasting on greenery like some vegan maniac. Strangely enough, my mind is also instantly drawn to Acqua di Gio for some reason – not a surprise since they share 6-7 notes – but you’ll see this theme coming up again and again in the review.

Ten minutes in, the rosemary begins to dial it back and you can smell the sweet amber in the background playing nicely with what’s obviously a driftwood accord (ala Original Penguin’s Premium Blend or TF’s Costa Azzurra) to give Indigo a subtle, aquatic touch. But the star is still the violet leaf – similar in scent to the clary sage you’d find in Ferragamo’s Acqua Essenziale Colonia – and balanced superbly with that spearmint. Altogether, I’m also somewhat reminded of Artisan Blu/Acqua from John Varvatos, but with a far fresher and less soapy outlook on account of the mint. So yeah, not exactly the most unique fragrance out there, but still very enjoyable.

As the fragrance begins to peter out at the 3rd or 4th hour, most if not all of the mint is gone and what’s left is an ADG-esque drydown with driftwood on top of a base of iso-e and evernyl. Not the best ending to a fragrance out there, but certainly better than most modern sugary blue concoctions. There were even times when I wore Indigo and got Amouage Beach Hut vibes in the first 20 minutes! Although that fragrance is far heavier on the barbershopy amber and ivy (not to mention the longevity and projection!). Total longevity was about 5 hours, but that’s on par with what you’ll get with most modern freshies.

Overall, I think Mr. Burberry Indigo is a lovely release. Simultaneously, it somehow manages to capture bits and pieces of several herbal freshies from the 90s all the way up to today, and masterfully blend them with mint in the way that only FK can. As a result, it also doesn’t exactly have a single identity of its own. If you’re looking for something with more citrus, I’d go with ADG; more soapiness, go with JV’s Artisan Blu; more barbershop vibes, go with Essenziale Colonia or Beach Hut; more Mr. Burberry, stick with the original. Instead, what we get is a vegetal violet leaf and sweet mint quasi-AQUATIC, with all the shades that the colour aqua has to offer. Wonderful for both the spring and summer, and sporting a nostalgic touch that children of the 80s and 90s could uniquely appreciate. As for it being a blue or indigo fragrance…I think not. More like a breath of fresh, garden air in a time of saccharine-induced craziness. Not bad. Not bad at all.