2001 Xiaguan 8653 Iron Cake

Xiaguan’s 8653 recipe is a widely recognized benchmark for sheng puerh. Many 8653s from the 80s and 90s have aged beautifully and are among the most valuable teas from this period. The iron-pressed version of this cake, with its flat edges and characteristic indentations, is particularly sought after nowadays for its favourable aging behavior.

This was our favourite batch of the recent tastings of early 2000s 8653 cakes, and we included it in our Xiaguan Iron Cake QC set. Wrappers are not in perfect condition, as expected for this kind of cake. The taste profile is very slightly smoky, dense, sweet and resinous.

Single cake of approximately 357 grams.