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Below is my review from What-Cha’s website. I’ve since spent some more time with this tea.

“Special tea. Very nice, large rolled leaves that were handled well. This tea has a very rounded profile so I’m having a difficult time picking out the distinct aromas in the dry and wet leaf. Haven’t tried the recommended brewing parameter yet but brewed in a gaiwan, the liquor is incredible. I taste a very light roast, florals, unripe peach, medicinal wood, and it’s quite sweet like a light honey. There’s a wonderful menthol that might be imperceptible if you don’t savor the tea or if you drink it with food. The menthol lightly lines my mouth and I notice it most near my sinuses. Overall, a very delightful, balanced tea. I’m very grateful to have tried this Shan Lin Xi and hope to purchase more.”

Addendum:

As is it turns out, the menthol became really pronounced in later steeps. Not so much in taste but in feel. I happen to love this; others may not. This tea makes me sweat and I was exuding a minty coolness from my armpits and chest. Like washing up with some peppermint Dr. Bronner’s soap.

This tea just keeps on giving, too. When I thought the brew might be over, I pushed it.
This was my first experience with a shanlinxi and I’ve read that they generally have a butteriness, which in retrospect I totally missed. Upon pushing the last few steeps, the butter became very pronounced and I know it’s an odd descriptor but it was chewy.

I feel like I lack the experience to adequately describe this tea. Probably easier for a well seasoned taster but I can still say I love its complex well roundedness and its longevity. Not an absolute beginner’s tea.

Bought up what I could. I hope whoever else gets their hands on the remaining amount finds it as pleasurable as I did.

Thanks for the very FRESH sample. 5-6 grams in a 150 mL glass gaiwan gives 2 teaspoons leftover for the recommended brewing which I’ll do later.

Spindly delicate medium-dark green leaves and buds are twisted to reveal the white downy undersides. The sample bag is lined with down.

Allergies have been a problem lately so I can’t pick out dry leaf scents easily but what I do get is soft and green and floral. There is some broken leaf (no dust) but perhaps that leads to the wonderful experience of this tea. The delicate brewed leaves turn a shade of yellow and some show spots of reddish oxidation. They smell floral like daffodil?, an unplaced green, sweet, creamy, a bit eggy with the lightest tinge of lemon.

The liquor has that floral, milky sweetness I find when biting into a raw ear of peak-season sweet corn but it’s also mineral, bright and clean at the same time. I’m reminded of creamed corn with a touch of spinach. Very smooth, slightly drying, the downy hairs ever-present. The sweetness and floral remain in the mouth a while after the sip. No extreme drop off in flavor as the steeps progress, moving into a bit more astringency but retaining the florals. Eighth steep gives way to a nice clean and light ending.

Caffeinated, calming, gentle on the belly.

I’m still kind of a tea noob but I want to say it’s like a less aggressive Taiwanese baozhong. Quite different than the current Anhui Huoshan Huang Ya offering.