91 pts - Wine Advocate
["Pichon Longueville Baron's 1996 has turned out to be even better than I thought from cask. The high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend (about 80%) resulted in a wine that has put on weight in the bottle. An opaque purple color is accompanied by beautiful aromas of tobacco, new saddle leather, roasted coffee, and cassis. It is dense, medium to full-bodied, and backward, with moderately high tannin, but plenty of sweet fruit, glycerin, and extract to balance out the wine's structure. This well-endowed, classic Pauillac should be at its finest between 2006-2022. - WA, RP (4/1999)"]
92 pts - Wine Spectator
["Marvelous aromas of raspberry, coconut and mineral. Full-bodied, with superbly well-integrated yet powerful tannins. Chewy and fruity finish. Needs a lot of time to mellow. Much better than the barrel samples I tasted. Best Pichon-Baron since 1990. Best after 2006. 25,000 cases made. –JS WS"]
90 pts - Vinous
["90"]