Aromas of ash, stone, licorice, and wild mushroom. Moss. Basil. Full body, firm and silky tannins. So much spice and cumin. Black pepper. Goes on for minutes. Racy. Ready. Drink now. 96 points, jamessuckling.com (7/17).

"(100 percent new French oak) Inky ruby. Powerful, deep-pitched aromas of ripe black and blue fruits, violet, incense, mocha and Indian spices are lifted by a strong suggestion of smoky minerals. Utterly stains the palate with densely packed blackberry, blueberry, bitter cherry and floral pastille flavors that slowly stretch out and become sweeter with aeration. Conveys a distinctly powerful character but comes off elegant, showing no rough edges. The strikingly long, gently tannic finish eventually leaves behind sappy blue fruit liqueur, vanilla and spicecake qualities." 

97 points, Vinous (October 2017)

Powerful, polished and smooth, with heady aromas of sandalwood, sarsaparilla, pepper and cigar box, giving way to a core of dark fruit flavours and a slice of toasted date nut bread. Intense and persistent on the epic finish, but never loses a sense of elegance, with grace notes of Earl Grey tea and dried violet that linger. Drink now through 2035. 97 points, Harvey Steiman.

Deep garnet coloured with a touch of remaining purple at the rim, the 2012 The Laird is one of those wines you could just go on smelling all day. It opens with a complex perfume of kirsch, dried mulberries, blackberry tart and spice cake over cloves, mocha, dusty earth, incense, star anise, yeast extract and aged beef. The full-bodied palate is drop-dead seductive, unfurling in the mouth to reveal exotic spice, meat, earth and berry preserves layers, supported by firm, velvety tannins and seamless acid. The finish seems to go on forever -- and this is exactly what you want it to do. Stunning. 100 points, Wine Advocate (10/2017).