VOD Gourmet Maple Blue

Recently I shared my thoughts on VOD Gourmet's Whiskey Blue cheese. While I wasn't too fond of the cheese, I was impressed by the idea, so I went back for more in the form of VOD Maple Blue.

http://www.vodkacheese.com/wisconsincheeses.html

Rich blue cheese paired with sweet maple syrup; it sounds promising, no? Unfortunately I found it similar to Whiskey Blue in that it was just too strong. The maple, rather than being a delicate kiss, is a salacious grope, hitting your mouth and throat in full force, as if you were eating a stack of pancakes rather than sampling a subtle gourmet cheese.

I give it two stars for overwhelming me with maple-y sweetness, but I can see potential for Maple Blue in cooking and/or salads/salad dressings.

RATING: 2 out of 5 stars

Sage Derby

Like a froggy, ferny cabbage, Sage Derby is unnaturally...

Sage Derby is an English cheese that originated in the seventeenth century. It is flavored with sage, as its name and appearance might suggest. It has quite a striking look and bright color to it - if you haven't seen it in person before, it's much brighter than the picture above shows.

But the important thing is, how does it taste? In my opinion, only so-so. The thing is, there's only so much sage I can take in my cheese. I had thought that Grafton Village Sage Cheddar was extremely sage-y, but I didn't know from sage-y until I tried Sage Derby. It crosses the line from sage-y all the way into minty, which, I think, is bad. It has the flavor of a minty herbal tincture more than anything else.

It settles down a bit when you eat it with strong accompaniments, like salty meats for example, but I still found myself thinking that it was nicer to look at than to taste. If you're okay with idea of a minty cheese, though, you might want to give Sage Derby a try.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Cypress Grove Chevre: Purple Haze

Purple Haze at the Cypress Grove Website

Purple Haze is a fresh goat cheese flavored with Lavender and Fennel Pollen. Now generally speaking, I don't like things that are flavored with Lavender. Lavender is a soap-category herb, for me. I always feel like I'm eating soap.

This fantastic little goaty cheese certainly changed my mind where Lavender is concerned. The flavor is absolutely divine. Slightly otherworldly, even. The mixture of lavender, fennel pollen and fresh, creamy, tangy, sweet goat cheese cannot even be properly described until you taste it, so go and taste it and then get back to me. It's like goat cheese that has been sprinkled with magic fairy dust, by a real live fairy. Dark and mysterious, yet fresh, bright, and sparkly - all at once!

Purple Haze will naturally make you think of using it in a salad, but I think it can really be used anywhere and everywhere you would use a goat cheese. Salad, cheese plate, pizza, pasta, you name it, this cheese will take it to the next level.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Etorki

Etorki at the Food Network Store

"Etorki", the name, apparently comes from the Basque word for "origin". I think it would make a good name for a sheep. Perhaps Etorki was the name of the very first sheep whose milk was used to make Etorki cheese. But I digress.

Etorki is a sheep's milk cheese, and quite a fine one at that. It is new, having been invented in the 1970s. Its flavor is somewhat similar to a nutty Spanish cheese, like an Iberico for example, but the texture is semi-soft, creamy and buttery. It also has not a small amount of that elusive flavor component that I like to call "sheepiness". And the only way to experience sheepiness, aside from drinking sheep's milk, is to eat a sheep's cheese.

There is a bit of sweetness in this cheese, and also a grassy, fresh, flowery sunny taste that will make you feel like you've landed in a meadow in springtime. Surrounded by cute little sheep named Etorki.

It's another versatile cheese that will make you happy on a cheese plate, or in your cooking, but it is rich and shouldn't be overused.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Sottocenere

Sottocenere at Cowgirl Creamery's Library of Cheese

You really can't go wrong by adding truffles to cheese. They are the perfect pair and will shine no matter what you do with them. That said, there are several varieties of truffled cheese out there and they do have some differences between them.

Sottocenere is a new cheese. It was invented about eight years ago by some guy in Venice who decided that truffles and cheese might age together beautifully when preserved in ash. (And that's what "sottocenere" means, apparently - "under the ash".)

He was right. Sottocenere is a lovely cheese. The truffle flavor is stronger than some other truffle cheeses I've tried, but not so rich as to overwhelm you. The cheese is both laden with truffle bits AND rubbed with truffle oil, talk about your dream come true, right? It also has a hint of spiciness that I cannot quite trace, but I'm assuming it comes from the ash coating, which is infused with various herbs and spices.

All in all, this is by far the best truffled cheese I have ever tasted. It also melts beautifully and therefore would make a flashy addition to your next brunch.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars