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

Alouette Hickory Smoked Baby Brie

Alouette Hickory Smoked Baby Brie

Alouette is the French word for a Skylark. A Skylark is a cute little bird; Alouette makes cute little cheeses. I guess it works.

I have never been a huge fan of Alouette Brie, as it never seems to age to that perfect gooey consistency that I expect of my softer French cheeses. It works fine in a pinch, though. Now, smoked brie, though? This is another issue entirely.

I had never tried smoked brie before. What could possibly be the point? The beauty of a brie lies in its simplicity, its mildness, its innocent maiden-like charm that conceals a richness so deep that it needs no accompaniment. Remember the scene in Twin Peaks when Jerry and Ben Horne nearly go mad over the beautiful simplicity of brie and butter, spread on a baguette? That is the magic of this cheese. To cover it in hickory smoke seems, well.... misguided.

And after tasting it, I believe it really is. The smoking does nothing to the brie except add a slight harshness to its aftertaste, and a slight firmness to its texture. The last thing a brie needs is to be firmer, even if this is a "baby" brie. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good either.

If you really must add some sort of pizazz to your brie for your next party, such as baking it en croute or some such thing, I merely entreat you to keep it as simple as possible. The best bries need no help being delicious.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

VOD Gourmet Whiskey Blue

Whiskey Blue at iGourmet

VOD Gourmet Home Page

VOD Gourmet cheeses are the brainchild of Swedish cheese visionary Ulla Nylin. She decided that it would be a great idea to make Swedish-style cheeses infused with Vodka, and has built her cheese company around that idea. I haven't tried her vodka cheeses but it sounds like a great idea to me.

Nylin expanded the VOD Gourmet line of cheeses to include whiskey- and wine-infused varieties, and that's where VOD Whiskey Blue comes in. It is a very high-quality, strongly flavored blue cheese that has been aged in delicious bourbon.

After my previous success with whiskey cheeses in the form of Kerrygold Aged Cheddar with Irish Whiskey, I was excited to give Whiskey Blue a try. Honestly, it was good enough, but I think that whiskey works MUCH better with cheddar than it does with blue. I got the feeling that two very strong flavors were having it out for domination in my mouth, and it wasn't a cohesive flavor experience at all.

That said, it is a very nice, creamy, strong blue cheese, and the bourbon could be tempered a bit, I think, with the right accompaniments. Any blue cheese goes great with Branston Pickle, I think that and a strong ale (or whiskey, duh) would give you the flavor mix that you deserve from an interesting cheese like this one.

RATING: 2 out of 5 stars

Mimolette

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimolette

Mimolette is a really cool-looking French cheese. As you can see, it looks almost exactly like a cantaloupe. It is also a very, very vibrant orange. Its flavor and texture vary with age, but I have only ever seen it available in the aged variety.

I don't really care for Mimolette's texture. It's very hard, but not crumbly as much as intensely chewy. The flavor is interesting, though. It's a very strong, bright taste that I imagine would go better with beer than with wine. If you plan on serving cheese at your next party, Mimolette would be a good choice since it's cool-looking and has a pretty unique taste/texture combination. As for me, it's not my favorite, but I don't hate it or anything. Also, its crust is made by cheese mites, which is neat.

RATING: 2 out of 5 stars