We had a vertical tasting of Caymus cab's last night. I will dispense with detailed notes of the nose and taste ('cause I didn't really keep notes), but here are some impressions.

Upon uncorking and my first small sample of each one (from 94 to 98), the 94 had a wonderful nose and mellow, but lasting fruit flavor. The 95 and 96 came across with lighter nose and much weaker flavor compared to the 94. The 97 got better, but not as much as I thought for the vintage. The 98 didn't seem that much behind the 98, but you could tell there was a drop in intensity.

45 minutes later 5 glasses were poured for 10 guests. Most of our group agreed that the 94 was the best of the group, with enjoyable nose and was just the right age with fruit and tannins balanced. We were mixed through the night on the 95 and 96. One ended picking the 96 as his best of the tasting. I always had a tannin pucker in my mouth for about 20 seconds after tasting the 96.

A few commented that the 97 could use a few years and that maybe its apparant lack of impressiveness may be that it needed some more bottle age (but would there still be enough fruit to hold once the tannins mellowed out?). We all commented how the 98 didn't seem to drop off that much from 97, but we didn't think the 98 would last much longer in the bottle. It should be drunk now and the 97 could last for awhile.

PS: I bought the 94 on one of my first trips to Napa, when Caymus still allowed you to just walk into their tasting room without a reservation. I bought the 3-bottle limit and paid about $33/bottle. The 96 was the last I purchased (in 1/02) to get this vertical set up and paid $95 (but I needed my 5-year set).