Mine is Spring 2016 and it is quite pleasant, but I enjoy a green dong ding no matter what.
I used a generous amount of leaves that someone could guess at 6 grams, and doing it gong fu. Steep one was at 45 sec which was a bit of a over brew, but not too bad. I got a brothy vegetal body with a nutty and somewhat lemon-custard like after taste. I could have mistaken it for a fancier green tea if I did not know what it was…though one could argue that for jade oolongs. Just a slight difference in fermentation and elaborate processing is all.
Second more floral and brothy, but that’s it. Needs a cool down.
To make things simple, or more complicated, I’m going to back log what I already thought about the tea. It was more savory than floral most times, but the florals were strong when they would pop up in gradual fluxes. The thicker green notes occasionally out-buttered the florals and hiding fruity qualities. I would recommend it to people who like Dragon Well or those looking for a good Dong Ding to try. My personal criticism was how easily the taste changed with temperature and brewing, easily changing from nutty to brothy with the softer notes in flux. The only other criticism was the price, but hey, I can be a cheapo sometimes.
