1998 CNNP You Le

I've got a sample of this tea from Chawangshop, here. Better photos are to be found there - it was too dark for my camera now. 

It seems to be dry stored, but it is somewhat suspiciously inexpensive at $68.

Dry leaves are clean and they smell like some better CNNP cakes I've had - a bit of camphor, a bit of smoke, a bit of fruit. Agedness is present, but its amount points to a rather dry storage.

An image of the leaves: 

Wet leaves tell us whole another story (and a story much to my liking). They smell notably fruity - overripe fruit, as well as fresh fruit (peach, pear?). The aroma is rich, but still rather fresh. The smokiness is not present, camphor aroma is much less obvious than in the aroma of dry leaf. It is also pleasantly woody. Compared to most You le I've met so far, I'm missing honey. Still, this tea smells great!

The first brew was a bit misleading, being very light, fruity-granary taste. Very active in mouth - a feature, which sadly did not make it into further brews. The thickness is good.

The second brew was much richer. Ripe fruit dominates the beginning, moving into sweet wood in later stages. Little green acidity is present at the end of the taste, promoting salivation. A bit of dry harshness from youth is present, but not too much. Even though the taste is very rich and the liquor is thick, the taste could last longer. Hui gan is a bit weaker than I'd wish, but decent enough. Long-term taste (5 minutes) reminds me of treacle. The interesting thing is that the empty cup smells of You Le I know, but the taste is generally different. I believe that it is You Le mixed with material from other regions...

From the third brew onwards, "older" tones are becoming more notable - earthiness and agedness, very pleasant. The pronounced mouthfeel of the first brew is not really present, which is a pity, the tea is active, but I enjoy even more activity. The taste and general feeling is still very good though. With further brews, woodiness becomes more dominant than the fruitiness. However, hui gan becomes more pronounced, I'm glad for that. 

It is interesting how this tea is "mid-aged" - some aged notes are obviously present, but younger tones are still present too - and these two rivers flow in harmony, making this tea interesting and enjoyable.

Although the main taste is not as long as with some other teas (this cake is still "only" $68 though), the long-term taste is long indeed, even after an hour, I still feel fruitiness.

Wet leaves are of surprisingly high quality, considering this is a CNNP cake.

The cake has been dry stored, but I'd say it was a good dry storage - it has not became harsh, weak, thin or anything like that. It develops slower, but it retains some interesting notes in return. At $68, it is not expensive at all. and I quite enjoyed drinking it. 

You may find more notes and photos here:
Tea dropping (ER's notes)