Mimik opened the this wine about a year ago (and I opened the '03 LLC. This was outstanding and put the very atypical LLC to shame in comparison. Unlike many '03 Bordeaux I found it to retain the traditional profile and so, so well. Well done! Of the '03 Bordeaux I've tasted this is the best by a very noticeable margin.

I gave a bottle of this to a friend for his birthday in October.

Should I advise it is drinking well now, or hold?

IMO if his storage is good then hold it. If he wants to drink it now then he should consider a long decant.

I thought this wine was by far the best 2003 that I have tasted and that includes the '03 Latour. With the amount of air that Grossie gave this it was drinking beautifully. Very dense with great structure but definitely very Bordeaux to the core. I can't say that about the Latour since I would have never pegged it for Bordeaux (very Californian profile).