STOP THE PRESSES! NEW CHEESE FROM JASPER HILL!

We received an email a half hour ago from Jasper Hill. They are releasing a new cheese – Eligo – a washed-rind Brick/Tallegio style mixed goat and cow milk cheese.

This story had been developing slowly at first, and then at a break neck speed. For a couple years, Jasper Hill has been kicking around the idea of buying a herd of goats. Initial plans for early in the year were stalled. Then around a month ago they received their first wave of roughly 300 goats and began fully experimenting with some new cheeses and formats. And since Jasper Hill never makes any small plans, this herd is targeted to grow to 1000 goats, and they plan on introducing many new goat’s milk and mixed milk cheeses.

We first tasted Eligo at Fancy Food Show less than a month ago, when it was just test batch #3 or 4, well before it had a name. Despite its experimental status, the cheese had a very intriguing flavor profile. It was a young and mild washed rind cheese, but by no means lacking in complexity. The goat’s milk flavor came through strongly but cleanly, and added a pleasant vanilla flavor to balance a light earthiness. Speaking to Jasper Hill in between then and now, they were thinking that they would continue to experiment and refine their cheese making processes before releasing the cheese. But as they just sent us an unexpected email announcing an unexpected release, we decided to make a last minute addition to our offerings.

So without further ado, we present Eligo! Available for pre order.

Eligo – 2/4#

(Zuercher item code TBD)