Château Haut Brion 1986

94 / 100 Robert Parker
This wine continues to be backward, but the bouquet is beginning to develop secondary nuances from roasted herbs and sweet cigar tobacco to compost, leathery notes, along with plenty of sweet cherry and black currant fruit. I had somewhat higher hopes for it a decade ago. The wine is still youthful, quite pure, medium to full-bodied, but somewhat elevated, austere tannins in the finish at age 16 are starting to make me think they will never become fully integrated. As always, making a judgment call on a wine destined to have a half-century of life is sometimes difficult, given the varying stages it goes through, but I wonder if this wine will turn out to be as profound as I once predicted.
Bordeaux Book, 4th Edition Jan 2003

86 / 100 Wine Spectator
On the slide. Dark ruby red. Aromas of cedar, tea, berry, cherry and leather. Medium- to full-bodied, with velvety tannins. Soft and delicious, but slightly dry on the finish. A bit mature.--Bordeaux retrospective. Drink now.
http://www.winespectator.com/wine/detail/source/search/not..

18.5 / 20 Jancis Robinson
Superb wine at the round, sweet peak of its powers. So sweet that I would never have guessed it was a 1986 and would probably have taken it for a Pomerol. Gorgeous stuff.
http://www.jancisrobinson.com/tastings/search?perpage=20&c..