I grew up eating Cabot cheese. It was my favorite afterschool snack, it was always packed in the cooler for our family road trips, and there was no better match for crackers or crisp fall apples in my book…not to mention grilled cheese sandwiches dunked in tomato soup. I loved peeling back the wax of a new block to reveal the creamy white cheddar center – the sharper the better! And as a one-time resident of Cabot, Vermont, I get nostalgic for a Fourth of July parade where people on floats throw tiny packages of cheese into the crowds instead of candy.The first time I tasted Jasper Hill Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, I knew it’d be one of my favorite cheddars for years to come. If you’re a fan of traditional English-style cheddar, you have to stop by the cheese department in your local store for a sample. It’s going to blow your mind. And for the month of April, we’ll be featuring Jasper Hill Cabot Clothbound Cheddar opens in a new tab in our stores nationwide!This old world cheeseis natural-rind traditional English style cheddar that is bandaged with muslin and aged for a minimum of 10 months. It is made from one herd's milk, the registered Holsteins at the Kempton Family Farm in Peacham, Vermont. This single-source milk gives the cheese a definite variation from batch to batch; some have hints of caramel and milky flavors, others are tart and bright, and still others are savory and brothy. This cheese has a definite “Taste of Place” as they say in the cheese-making world.
Cabot Creamery opens in a new tab was one of the first family farm cooperatives in Vermont, and has been owned by independent dairy farmers since 1919. Jasper Hill Farm opens in a new tab is a family-owned company that works to contribute directly to the expansion of the farmstead model and the maintenance of farming culture and the working landscape in Vermont. In 2003 Cabot Creamery asked the fledgling Jasper Hill Farm to age a special batch of old-world bandaged cheddar. When the first batch was perfectly aged and ready for tasting, the pair discovered an eager market for the sweet, nutty and savory rustic wheels – which were a departure from what most of the U.S. is used to when tasting cheddar.In 2006, the Jasper Hill Cabot Clothbound Cheddar won Best in Show at the American Cheese Society conference. The win inspired Jasper Hill Farm to break ground on a one-of-a-kind cheese aging facility. They blasted out the side of a hill to make room for 22,000 square feet of aging space for Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, and other cheeses made by New England farmstead cheese makers. Cellars at Jasper Hill opens in a new tab was created to take each cheese from every farm, with all of its unique flavors and distinct characteristics, and guide it along its path of maturation to reach its fullest potential. Cellars at Jasper Hill works for small cheese makers, who simply want to make cheese, to help maintain customer relations and keep their cheeses in healthy circulation – so the cheese makers can focus on cheese making.Every wheel of cheese that Cellars at Jasper Hill sells brings them closer to the goal of keeping individual family dairy farms and cheese makers profitable.Stop by your local Whole Foods Market for a sample and let us know what you think!
