Burberry’s 2000 woody musk: violet leaf, white pepper and cedar over tonka bean and white musk.
At a glance
Burberry Touch for Men is a Burberry eau de toilette launched in 2000 and composed by Jean-Pierre Béthouart. It is a soft, peppery woody musk: violet leaf and mandarin at the top, white pepper, nutmeg and cedar in the heart, and tonka bean, white musk and vetiver in the base.
It won the Fragrance Foundation’s FiFi Award for men’s luxury fragrance of the year in 2001 and remains one of the longest-running Burberry masculines.
Creation and context
Touch arrived during the Inter Parfums years. Inter Parfums held the Burberry fragrance license from 1993 to 2012, and in that period built the catalog around a few pillars, each sold in paired versions: Burberry, Weekend, Touch, Brit and London. Touch for Men was one of those pillars, and a companion Touch was sold alongside it.
Fragrantica and Parfumo both date Touch for Men to 2000 and both credit Jean-Pierre Béthouart as the perfumer; Parfumo places him at DSM-Firmenich, the supplier’s current name. Parfumo credits the bottle design to Fabien Baron. Fragrantica classifies the scent as a woody floral musk; Parfumo calls it fresh-spicy.
The FiFi Award followed a year after launch. Wikipedia’s list of FiFi winners and the Fragrance Foundation’s own award archive both record Burberry Touch for Men as the 2001 winner in the men’s luxury category; Wikipedia lists the entrant as AdiPar.
The composition
Burberry has not published a formula. The notes below are those that Fragrantica and Parfumo list in common.
The two databases differ on one top note: Fragrantica lists artemisia, Parfumo lists davana. The effect both describe is the same: a quiet, close-to-the-skin woody musk in which the violet leaf and pepper give definition to a soft, powdery base. Parfumo’s main accords are fresh, spicy, woody and powdery.
Violet leaf is the note that gives Touch its character. Unlike the sweet, powdery violet of the ionones, the leaf smells green and cool, a little like cucumber, and here it keeps the musky base from turning sweet.
Why it matters
Touch for Men is a good example of what the Inter Parfums years did well: a polished, easy designer fragrance that sold steadily for years without relying on a single loud idea. Its FiFi Award put Burberry on the same prize list as much larger fragrance businesses at a time when the brand was still best known for its trench coats.
Touch also belongs to the period in which Burberry became central to its licensee. By 2005 Burberry accounted for about three-quarters of Inter Parfums’ sales, and pillars such as Touch, Brit and London were the reason. That commercial weight is what later allowed Burberry to buy the license back and, after four years in-house, to place it with Coty.
It also shows that a fragrance did not need a loud idea to last. Touch was built on violet leaf, pepper and musk, a quiet combination that wears close to the skin, and it has stayed in the Burberry catalog through two changes of license.
Reformulation and editions
Touch for Men has been sold mainly as an eau de toilette, with an after-shave in the line. The Burberry license moved from Inter Parfums to Burberry’s own beauty division at the end of 2012 and to Coty in 2017, and Touch is still listed among the brand’s long-running lines.
No major reformulation has been publicly documented. As with most fragrances sold for more than two decades, expect small differences between older and newer bottles.
Wearing it today
Expect a soft, peppery wood with a clean musky finish rather than a statement scent. Parfumo users rate its longevity and sillage as moderate, so it suits the office, warm weather and anyone who wants a fragrance that stays close. Two or three sprays are enough; reapply in the afternoon if you want it to last into the evening.
If you want the same Burberry polish with more warmth, try Burberry Brit for Men; for a more modern aromatic wood, try Mr. Burberry.