Did Puerh Junky Mention II
Did Puerh Junky Mention II continues its look into the past. Last time we visited some of the stellar productions. What distinguished them is the excellent storage. The subsequent discussion continues by bringing to the readers attention productions that worthy of note. Let’s start out with the cream note, shall we?
The ’04 Uncle Creme Florale and the ’07 Mengsong are both solid cream-drinking experiences. Sweet and dynamic with pleasant camphor notes. These two are great everyday drinkers or newbies who’d like a completely different quality of puerh experience that is free from the heavy muted notes of more humid-stored productions, while still enjoying the benefits of serious age.
Ripes have heretofore gone rather neglected. The ’11 Peacock Gold, Fuhai is in a good place. Excellent everyday drinker for those enjoying a balance between viscosity, sweetness, bitter and camphor. Storage is succulent and composition fully expressed under current conditions and age.
Discerning ripe drinkers have almost universally glowed over ’12 Operation Macau. Most commissioned productions are far from ordinary and Operation Macau is no exception. If you’re interested in trying a next-level ripe that favours the palate of discerning Macanese standards, rich, sweet, humid, then this sets a standard against which all others can be judged. The geosmin note excels. This is one that people load on.
Those ripe-inclined interested in a bit of history should take note of the ferocious ’02 Purple Mark, 6FTM. This is the only 6FTM ripe production offered. It took over two years to resuscitate a production held in deep storage and fairly recently released. Dark chocolate that seeps through the pores. Perfect after dinner treat. Can be brewed heavy handed but forget about thermosing!
The cries of the humid crowd have not gone unheeded. There’s an entire “Humid Old” category set up for it. Noticeably absent from the list is the Revolutionary Suspect. Rested here in LA, CA since ’15, the production is alive with the notes of pine. Though I recommend the full set among the Humid Old , particular attention should be directed toward the Simao Orange, which hasn’t been listed yet but for which there are a few available. Acquired in Jan of ’23, it took only a few months for this production to blossom and a handful of others were acquired this (Nov ’23) and are still waiting their turn. Explosive camphor along a backdrop of heavy humidity. Compression is stellar and Guangdong storage albeit true to form didn’t rot the underlying material. Those who like the fast-forward qualities of heavy storage should find this a true pleasure.
Amidst the humid and smoky into just smoky two bear mentioning. First is ’07 Poison, 6FTM which is humid and smoky, and the ’06 Bulang Wild Big Tree, Fuhai. Given the colder temps, these two will it the winter spot. Camphor is prominent in both but through very different characters. Poison would be characterized as “menthol”, while Bulang Wild would be cast as having a more medicinal quality. Poison is more bitter, woody and in-your-face with complexity, while the Bulang Wild surprisingly is less bitter and low toned, green. The latter was characterized by one drinker as being like scotch, which I wouldn’t know. Sweetness with both is high.
