This one is billed as the King of Xiaguan! This fully Huston dry stored cake of
Dry leaves smell of hay and cardboard with a bit of creamy
sweet smell.
The first infusion is of watery almost metallic almost
bitter straw. The taste has a flat straw
bitter taste to it. With a tiny bit of
tongue feeling. There is an almost
strawberry fruity taste underneath that comes out on the tongue.
The second infusion has a strawberry fruity complex dirt,
metal, creamy sweet bitter onset. There
is a lot of complexity in the initial taste that dumps all at once. The mouthfeeling is flat and sandy but
stimulating on the tongue. I feel a bit
of heart racing and warming in the chest and stomach. There is a mild strawberry aftertaste. The bitterness and harshness of this puerh
can still be felt in the digestive system.
The third infusion has a strawberry/ berry with bitter
onset. There are notes of hay, metal,
mineral, but mainly a bitterness is developing in the mouth. With a flat sandy finish on the tongue.
The fourth is a woody slight smoky papery almost fruity and
more caramel sweetness with the long sweet caramel finish. There is also minerals and almost metallic
taste but less bitter. This infusion has
a returning aftertaste of sweet tastes over a sandy tongue coating and faint
upper throat opening. Feel the Heart
stimulated and racing. Get a strong mind
invigorating Qi.
The fifth infusion has a strong incense smoky note with some
dried date and strawberry nuances with a significant bitterness
underneath. It conjures up a juicy
fruity taste in the aftertaste with a bit of bitterness and smoke. There is also lots of complexity in the
background- mineral, paper, wood, almost metal, caramel. Nice engaging mouthfeeling on the tongue with
throat stimulation that traps the saliva in the upper throat. Strong powerfully alerting Qi. Still has the harshness of a young sheng on
the digestion.
The sixth infusion has a syrupy sweet smoky slightly bitter
but mainly smoky caramel type long sweetness in the mouth. There are nuances of metal, paper, fruits, incense. The thick sweetness paired with bitterness
and nice returning caramel with slight cooling throat is really nice. This is probably the best Xiaguan I have
tried. Very nice. Strong - still too strong to drink and needs
more age… but very good Xiaguan.
The seventh infusion a thick syrupy sweetness with
underlying bitterness. Very thick fruity
and caramel sweetness balanced with mild-moderate bitterness and smoke. Brilliant.
There are some mineral and metallic and wood in the distance but is not
that pronounced as that strong syrupy sweetness with a backbone of bitterness
and smoke. Strong heart pumping Qi.
The eighth infusion has cooled a bit and gives off a juicy
fruity syrupy smoky mineral taste. The
mouthfeel is a bit sandy but there is also saliva producing in the throat. The aftertaste isn’t as long or vibrant but
still nice. The underlying complexity
continues to wane. The power of this
factory puerh is strong.
The 9th has a menthol woody onset that lasts long
in the mouth with a papery aftertaste and secondary sweetness. There is a smooth woody incense taste in
there primarily. Still strong Qi. Incense and fruity and smoky and tasty.
The 10th has a fruity woody menthol in the breath
and throat with a strong incense base taste.
The 11th is a fruity sweet cherry with a nice long smoke
that is not off putting. The complexity
is gone and all that is left is smoky fruity taste with a subtle
bitterness. These last infusions have
not been so hard on the stomach. By mid-session
it feels almost warming on the digestion instead of bitter cold.
The 12th is much the same but become more smoky
and less sweet and fruity now…. Still strong Qi… still a bit of a pungent
cooling with creamy sweet returning under smoke.
The 13th is more incense as the dominant taste
with a strong smoke and lessening sweetness initially and a bit in the return
now.
The 14th has a woody incense taste with a menthol
breath. Late in the session the taste is
not that sweet with incense smoke and retuning menthol. Still strong powerful alerting Qi.
The 15th mainly smoky now with not that much
sweetness.
Overall, this is a really good dry stored Xiaguan probably
the best I have ever sampled from that classic factory. It is powerful, and tasty syrupy thick
sweetness, sometimes too harsh on the digestive system. Strong Heart pumping Qi. For $1.00/g of the very best I’ve tired of
Xiaguan I definitely pondered a purchase.
I still can’t get my mind around spending that kind of money on Xiaguan
so just couldn’t pull the trigger on this one.
Those who did have a real gem on their hands!
Peace
4 comments:
There is a new set of dry stored Houde stuff dropping in a few days, so everyone has to have that engine started and revving and making decisions *fast* on what they want and whether they're willing to pay for it.
The real issue is that there are very few tea of that age that are truly dry stored, and the further you go up the quality ladder, from regular factory teas, the more this is a material consideration. That 2001 Jinyehao was great, almost in the sense beyond its original material, because of how carefully extant and detailed the aged taste and feel was.
So one can guess that there is a substantial likelyhood of people cleaning out the shelves in days, of the good stuff. Before you even get to try that sample before you buy.
Shah8,
Yep. I 100% agree with you here. Sampling their first round of Huston aged releases with time to ponder is probably a luxury that we won’t have this time...
Let the impulse blind buying begin!!!!
Lucky for me I am aware that I have at least sampled some of these young so I am better off than others.
Peace
Finally got around to this tea today. It has a lot of woody, pine bark, caramel notes and I wrote cherry, but I think you are more accurate in calling it strawberry. This tea really wowed me at the beginning but while it doesn't give up too quickly, it does lose the powerful face-melting energy after a few steeps.
Agree with you and Shah about the storage. Seems like some of the best examples of these teas you can get your hands on these days. The blind caking seems scary in the sense that of the handful of samples I purchased last round, I don't feel any were priced in a way that justified immediate purchase.
Cheers
Ignoramous,
Great notes, similar to mine, thanks for sharing that. Agree that, like a lot of factory puerh, it only has a small window of optimal steeps.
I 100% agree with you as well! Hahaha
I sampled a handful as well but could not justify a purchase on any of these. Mainly because they are not great deals or underpriced but probably priced about right for what they are and what they are is optimally stored puerh of the early 2000s. They are also being sold at a time that commands higher prices as a lot of these would sell for 1/2 the price 2 years ago. I did this for some puerh of similar quality. The time for a deal on this stuff was a few years ago and of course Houde was still holding it at that time.
However, I feel if I did blind buy any of these cakes I would be equally satisfied that I took the plunge. It’s difficult for someone used to buying low to pay full market value.
This is probably what is holding us back on purchasing these!
Peace
Post a Comment