Bayley Hazen Blue Cheese from Jasper Hill

Jasper Hill Farm, located in Greensboro, Vermont, was started by brothers Mateo and Andy Kehler. If you're an American cheese fan and haven't heard of them before, I'm sure you will soon. They're one of the brightest stars in the traditional American cheese world. Besides making their own amazing farmhouse cheese, they work with other Vermont farmers, aging cheeses and distributing them from their caves.

While they make other excellent cheese, “the Bayley Hazen is the engine that runs the company,” according to Andy. Most of what they make is spoken for. We're just one of a handful of places outside the Northeast where you can find it. It's a stellar cheese that reminds me a bit of Stichelton. That's not a big surprise since Mateo learned some of his craft working with Neal's Yard Dairy in London.

The new white wheels of cheese, infused with a bit of the same mold that makes Roquefort cheese, are pierced with needles after nine days. The air that enters forms the blue mold naturally throughout the cheese. They are turned and brushed every week until they’re ready to go about two or three months later.

The texture is something else. Andy calls it “a cross between butter and chocolate,” and I don't think he's stretching it. Frankly, for blue cheese lovers, it's irresistible.

Cow's milk
Unpasteurized (Raw)
Traditional rennet

If we are sold out on this, I recommend trying Stichelton, the traditional British cheese Bayley Hazen was based on.