Pasteurized Cow Milk
This just won Best American Cheese at the World Cheese Awards, and Best in Class at the World Cheese Championships, 2024.
Harbison is a soft-ripened cheese with a rustic, bloomy rind that is woodsy and sweet, balanced with lemon, mustard, and vegetal flavors. When the cheese is young, it is wrapped in strips of spruce cambium, the tree's inner bark layer harvested from the woodlands of Jasper Hill. You may notice blue-green flora on the exterior of this cheese. The rind is a host for microbial activity, yeasts, molds, bacteria-- all the good kind-- that help your gut biome and contribute a complexity and tastiness not found in commodity cheeses.This cheese has a spoonable texture that begins to develop in the aging vaults at Jasper Hill.
Cut the rind off of the cheese one half at a time. Eat the open half and then wrap it back either in its wrapper or in parchment paper/plastic wrap. This cheese is entirely edible except for the bark strip around the exterior of the wheel.
Refrigerate and eat within 2-5 days.
Jasper Hill Farm, located in the Northeast Kingdom, has a small herd of Ayrshires that are quite spoiled. The cows go out on a fresh piece of pasture after every milking during the spring summer and fall and are fed a ration of dry hay through the winter, when they stay in avoiding harsh winter wind and snow and listen to a great selection of jazz and classical music. These healthy happy cows are taken care of by Andy Kehler, who has worked with his brother Mateo Kehler since 1998 making superior cheeses.
Nice clean flavor, not at all gamey or stinky.
I ordered this cheese despite not being a big fan of soft cheese. It was on sale, Cellars at Jasper Hill cheeses are usually excellent, & it had so many good reviews. I was not disappointed; it was excellent! We followed the direction to cut off the top & spread it on a baguette & crackers. It was gooey, earthy, & delicious. Between four of us, we ate it all in one sitting, including the rind! I ordered it again the next week. Om nom nom nom.
I love brie and Camembert cheese with baguettes. This one has the same texture, though softer/more gooey than brie. It is mild in smell compared to Camembert but definitely smellier than brie. Overall, this cheese lived up to my expectations. Yum!
This is an excellent cheese. I lived in France for 14 years and I must say that Harbison compares very favorably with the best I ever had there. It is creamy, tasty -- not bland and not too strong. We two had a hard time not consuming all 9 ounces in one sitting and that after a good dinner! The one I got was ready, ripe. We only left it out for 24 hours before opening it up.
Probably my Favorite Cow's milk cheese of all time!
My goodness, this cheese is so good! We got some at a local shop because I am drawn to anything spruce related. This cheese is creamy, sweet, mild, and so delicious.
I love love this cheese! Our family has been getting it for the past few years around the holidays and it's always the first to go! Just order it you won't be disappointed.
My daughter literally sits and eats this with a spoon like ice cream. She loves it.
I appreciate the depth and care that went into making this cheese, but I have to say that this cheese is not for me. Too gooey, earthy to a point of sour. I'm glad I tried it, but it's not to my taste.
I could not stop eating this when I got it. So creamy and rich, very flavorful but not overpowering. Great on crackers or just on a spoon ;)
This is a scrumptious cheese that taste like Brie, but with more depth. It has the pudgy softness of Brie, but also can get wonderfully gooey if you leave it out for several hours before enjoying on fresh baguette, crackers, or alone.
This cheese is fairly mild, more than most brie, I think, but still with character. We love that you just cut off the top and scoop out the insides to eat. We have been enjoying it on multigrain toast for breakfast.
