Simon Field: An elegant color, with crepuscular tints, then a most attractive nose with figs, spice, and crème brûlée all evidenced. This complexity is confirmed on the palate, which is somehow both sinewy and silky, savory and yet sweet. Several types of ambiguity, all adding to the piece, which manages to recall both whisky and Cognac—a feat individually, but joint and severally, most unusual! 18

Richard Mayson: Red-tinged mahogany; olive-green rim. Clean and well balanced, pungent with savory-sweet richness and attractive freshness on the finish. Not the richest or most complex of the 40-year-olds but well balanced and approachable. 14.5

Margaret Rand: The nose is of little iced biscuits, plus more fragile coffee notes; the palate is elegant and concentrated, with subtlety but no loss of vigor, and the finish is very long. Impressive. 17