While not the most famous of the Big Four (Six? Ten?) 名叢 (míng cóng — famous bushes) of the 武夷 (Wǔyí) area, 鐵羅漢 (Tiě Luóhàn — Iron Arhat) is certainly one of my favorites.
I think this is partly because it’s one of the varieties of 岩茶 (yánchá — cliff or rock tea) where — for whatever reason — I’ve still been able to find examples with deeper, more traditional styles of roast.
If you’re lucky, Tiě Luóhàn has a delicious, clean sweetness; a wonderful richness of texture; and a deep, often almost caramelized quality to the 杯底香 (bēi dǐ xiāng — cup bottom aroma).
My tea friend Adrian introduced me to a wonderful, affordable example of this wūlóng from Grand Tea (now Tea Canvas; based out of Hong Kong), and — in addition to various other examples — I still have a tiny bit of that left. Hopefully I’ll be able to get more of a similar batch someday…