I got a sample of this as a special 20th birthday present.
The dry leaves are beautifully twisted and dark. The initial smell is toasty and floral, but if one draws it higher up into the nose it develops a gorgeous tropical fruit scent, most notably of passion fruit, mango, and a touch of peach.
The liquor is a beautiful dark golden colour, almost light rusty brown. It smells much more strongly of passion fruit than the dry leaves, the more I smell it the more I love it. It also has that wonderful toasty warm aroma of dark oolongs which I love.
The first sip is bitter. Crap. The water must have been too hot. (MUST buy that thermometer!!) It still holds on to that passion fruit scent with floral notes lifting it up to another level. It is almost like drinking perfume, there is such strength to all the aromas. Passion fruit holding on all the way to the aftertaste, awesome. Off to brew the second infusion which will hopefully be more successful.
