Mengdai Tea Factory 2016 - Xi Gui Ripe Puerh

A deeply fermented Shou Puerh cake from the Lincang-based MengDai Tea Factory, made with materials from the famous Xi Gui village in the Bang Dong region of Lincang. This is one for those who like their Shou Puerh heavy and dark. 10 years of age has smoothened the texture somewhat but not reduced its power in the least. The liquor is inky brown, the aroma of toasted oak wood and aged leather. The taste profile is powerfully earthy with a hint of petrichor and dark-roasted cacao nibs, but with a medium to short clean finish. There is a hint of sweet sticky rice aroma in the backdrop, but it is overlaid with that blanket of rich inky earthiness and mahogany wood.