I should mention up front that I enjoy cheese as much as I enjoy beer. I should also mention that I've tried my hand at cheese-making and reviewed more than a few cheeses on this site in the past. Safe to say that if there was such a thing as a cheese-a-holic, that would describe me perfectly.
With that in mind, I was really excited to get a chance to sample some selections from the new Rare Cheese Club. Brought to you by the same group that created The Rare Beer Club, this club ships three small-batch cheese to your door each month using 2nd-day shipping (so they get there fresh and chilled). These cheeses are small-batch, artisan, and hand-cut to roughly 1/2-pound of each. The selections come from international and U.S. locations and they include extra-aged and fresh rare cheeses. Each shipment also includes detailed tasting notes, cheese profiles, cheesemaker details and even serving suggestions.
Of course I can't wait to try out the November selections of Zingerman's Creamery Manchester, Roth Grand Cru Surchoix and Chällerhocker so off we go…
I decided to start off with the Zingerman’s Creamery Manchester. This cheese comes to us from Ann Arbor, MI from a creamery founded in 2001. This soft cheese is created from cow’s milk from the small local farm Calder Dairy and it is aged between two and four-weeks. With their background creating cream cheese, you can definitely taste, smell and feel the influence that has had on Manchester. The mouthfeel is soft and creamy and the aromas are earthy but still very bright. I went back and forth between “luscious” and “silky” to describe Manchester and finally decided that it is both. The edible rind has a unique and flavorful shredded-cheese texture that ultimately yields to the softer center and overall the cheese is complex and delicious. I did my best to use crackers but I ultimately ended up eating most of the Manchester right from my cheese knife. Overall this is a cheese with a familiar texture but an unfamiliar mix of cheese flavors and complexity (this is a really good thing).
Next up I sliced into the Kaserei Tufertschwil Chällerhocker. This cheese comes to us from Lütisburg, Switzerland and it is a semi-hard cow’s full-cream cheese that is aged ten to twelve-months. Translated to "sitting in the cellar”, Chällerhocker is regularly washed with brine through the aging process and it has a unique and almost artistic rind. The cheese is silky smooth with very subtle flavors and aromas up front. I liked the almost vegetal and nutty flavors in the cheese but there is also a really complex sweetness to Chällerhocker that makes each bite more and more intriguing. I also tasted a bit of chive and some background vinous notes as well. Overall this is a really pleasant cheese to just eat, although I will admit I did also pair it with apricot jam for a spectacular combination of flavors.
Finally I broke into the Roth Grand Cru Surchoix and I was surprised at just how this cheese differed from the other two. This cheese comes from Monroe, WI and it is a firm alpine cheese made with raw cow’s milk that is aged for 9+ months. This award-winning small-batch cheese is really aromatic in a good way and it has a really tactile semi-hard satisfying slice. The flavors manage to combine subtle, complex and bold all in one bite and wow what a bite. I found earthy and nutty flavors with a dull and complex sweetness but there is a lot more going on with this cheese. Overall the subtle flavors give way to a robust set of well-balanced sweet and earthy flavors and once again I preferred to eat it straight up; although I will admit to having fantasies about making a killer toasted cheese sandwich with it.
I can’t say enough about just how amazing these three cheeses are and just how cool it was to have them arrive at my front door. Zingerman's Creamery Manchester, Roth Grand Cru Surchoix and Chällerhocker are the November Selections for The Rare Cheese Club so be sure to check out the club and their past selections. I have to also mention that the December 2020 selections look amazing so you have plenty of time to join and take advantage of some amazing cheeses coming up. Keep in mind you can also mix and match clubs with the Design Your Own Club program to pair amazing beers with amazing cheeses (for your or as a gift).
As always, when you do try out The Rare Cheese Club, be sure to let us know what YOU think.
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