From a bottle with a nice fill and solid cork. Tawny color. Dense. Exotic nose. Notes of plum, black cherries, old wood desk, tobacco, leather saddle, dark soil and a little menthol. Improved over 5 hours as it got more air. Long finish. A truly great aged bottle of HB. — 6 years ago

I was so excited to open this 2006 Leoville Barton. The color was ruby red and dark crimson. Almost black. It opened very hot with just a short decant. The nose showed amazing cherry, raspberry, cocoa and coffee notes. On the palate the tannins are very evident. There are obvious dark berries and even some earthy vegetables and tobacco. Over the course of 2hrs it really came into its own and showed its meddle. This is a great wine and, in my opinion, a great value. While a bit young, this wine a still great now and will be amazing in 10 yrs. — 9 years ago
2010 vintage with plum, black currants, green olive, eucalyptus mint black cherry. Delicious!! — 6 years ago
Lighter than expected. Slightly spicy — 6 years ago

The nose on this wine is stunning baring the alcohol heat. Perfumed red florals and candied dark and lighter red fruits. While the wine is truly elegant, the alcohol is seriously burning the back of my throat. The bottle reads 14.1 but I think over 15 degrees. Maybe, they wanted to save on the higher alcohol tax. The wine starts so beautifully only to burn the back of my throat. The fruits are ripe, elegant and beautifully soft. Blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, raspberries, faint back palate of strawberries, sweet/soft leather, black licorice, violets & roses, rich delicate & sweet wet black earth, soft light baking spices, caramel, milk chocolate, figs & dates, amazingly sweet dark minerals, touch of black tar, touch of spice and a rich long elegant dark fruit liqueur finish. I would score this wine higher if it didn't punish my palate and throat with the burning alcohol finish. — 9 years ago
It’s been open about 3 days and airing about 4 hours in the bottle. The nose is musky barnyard with wet oak, damp forest floor, wet leather and dark red fruit. There’s still some chalky tannins with acidity that rushes down the sides of your mouth and tongue. The red fruit carries forward, but more underripe with skins intact. It’s cleaner on the palate with a bit of damp cellar and dry earth, with notes of leather and red plum skin. The red plum and leather hang on into the finish. It’s a solid showing that I’d like to see where it develops over the next 3-5 years. — 6 years ago
Richard List
We tackled this monster at The River Cafe over the summer. Larger formats always seem to evolve that bit better over time and this was no exception. Absolutely fantastic. — 5 years ago