Lin Mao Sen

Bought this in Taipei earlier this year and just opened the vacuum sealed bag today. Excellent smoky and earthy oolong with little astringency.

This apparently is a very mild roast, according to the proprietor. He said the roasted flavours are largely due to the natural notes of Tieguanyin. This is from Muzha.

The dry leaf is certainly roasty in aroma and appearance. Almonds, warm wood, apricots, delicate floral notes. Quite intoxicating

Liquor surprised me with guava and mint. creamy espresso and still with milkiness…so yes, a cappuccino aroma. underneath roasted almonds. a darker floral note like lily also lurking

Palate shows more freshness of mint and nuts. round and creamy. green bean, honey. complex.
long finish with ever so slight bitterness at the end.

The body and richness of a more fermented tieguanyin while maintaining plenty of higher notes.

delicious

This is for 2016, but only opened recently.
Dry leaf is shows slight roasted notes of nuts and more pungent vegetal component like endive.
steeped leaf is peppery, floral, buttery and slight chlorine

Liquor has initial sweetness then unfolds with leafy green vegetables, flowers and mild but pleasant bitterness at tip.
shows a bit more roast than some other lishans. adds nicely to complexity
very strong mid-palate that lingers to full finish

not quite as tasty as i recall when i first opened it a month ago. i still have a 2017 to open

Drinking this side by side with another wenshan baozhong.

This one has a nuttier dry aroma, not as floral as other.
Wet leaf has sweet corn aroma, vegetal
Palate is round and slight creaminess. touch of nutmeg

when pushed, the tea held up well.

So, apparently, this is the last of this particular tea. The plot where this tea is from has since been cleared as per gov’t orders to plant native trees.

I found my tasting notes from about a year ago.
I’ve brewed this tea many different ways, though my favourite is to probably use a far greater leaf to water ratio than i normally would, along with a far longer steep time than normal. For example, at one point I think I used about 12g tea in my 120ml gaiwan and steeped for a minute or two. Flavour overload
The tea stands up to it well.

Anyway, some general notes:
very floral
buttery lettuce
more buttery than vegetal
very creamy sweet and round on palate
high toned floral on palate as well
creamed corn
a lot of mid-palate umami
almost meaty when steeped longer
more nutmeg spice comes out in later steepings

Powerful yet still delicate