Marquis’s Floral Puerh
The Puerh Junky finds most floral productions too ostentatious for this tastes. There’s something about flowery productions that sound an off note. There are some notable exceptions, like the Lily of the Valley, YPH and the Banzhang Organic from ’08, neither of which listed, but you can message if interested.
Liming and MKRS cake productions really push the limits of cordiality as do 6FTM‘s. These are all floral productions in the stash but not ones that ever beckon beyond mostly for purposes of checking in on how they’re possibly toning it down. . . which they’re not, except the Monkey. Then there is the Marquis du Green Mark, quite urbane and agreeable in every regard.
Could the reason for the Puerh Junky’s love for the Marquis have to do with storage? Probably not. The ’09 Ox, 6FTM for example is also more humidly stored but but it doesn’t hit like the the Marquis. No doubt sweetness plays a factor. Many report such productions as Tulin’s T868 or the Lancang Jingmai 003 as sweet, though they strike me as being more like that woman at church who wears loud perfume that oppresses the senses, so much so that the sweetness is muffled. Those two are both very tippy and could be a very telling factor. Let’s continue. . .
There’s something about where most florals strike on the scale that poses a challenge for the Puerh Junky. That place is about two octaves above middle C. The Marquis and Yiwu Princess seem to sound an octave lower, and alas, their leaves are considerably larger, as is also the case with Lily of the Valley and the Banzhang Organic. With the Marquis, perhaps leaf size is also that which provides the overlay of vanilla and undertow of minerals. In other works, there’s something about the leaf size that not only tames the scream of flowers but also provides additional layers of complexity and deliciousness.
Still, Liming and MKRS offerings aren’t always comprised of little leaves though they almost always pack a very serious punch. Here’s where age seems to factor in, at least to some extent, perhaps also terroir and production style. MKRS/Daxue Shan, just isn’t a terroir style suiting the Puerh Junky, though there are always surprises. The MKRS ’10 Tiger was simply fabulous, a creation where the root beer formed very early and throttled the flowers forming a fantastic experience.
The Marquis is not the DXS flower. It isn’t in DXS sharp and the Puerh Junky is just not one to know flowers like that. Yes, with some it’s obvious, Lily of the Valley, Jingmai 003’s honeysuckle, but with many other’s its a toss up. The DXS and Fengqing floral definitely resonates with black tea floral. Low and behold, that’s where much black tea actually hails.
