Medium garnet, slightly staining amber.  An oblique spice divides rich plum and blackberry from muddy clay.  Bright and dancing in the nose while maintaining a ripeness which begs tasting.  Heavy green briar lingers in background with cellar-floor and rubber-hose issues.  I hate cheap BDX.  Let’s just get that out of the way.  And by *cheap* I mean anything under about 25$.  I have wasted more money in my life on 20-30 dollar BDX than probably any other label.  I ran into a handful of 2011 and 2012 Supérieur and Cru Bourgeois bottles recently discounted to under 10$ each and just couldn’t say no.  This one’s actually promising.  A blend of Kool-aid made with half the sugar and powdered Vit-C on entry.  Everything evaporates into watery heck quickly, only to be replaced with searing tannins moments later.  The unpleasant nuance of these *tannins* remain for a good long time in the mouth and throat.  This thing was SOOOO much better smelling than it tastes.  2011 Ch Grand Billard Bordeaux ABC  13-5   ◊