Idiazabal
Idiazabal is a hard raw sheep's milk cheese from the Basque Country and Navarre in northern Spain, named for the village of Idiazabal and protected as PDO. Traditionally made from the milk of Latxa and Carranzana sheep, this is one of the great old-world sheep cheeses of the Pyrenees and the kind of cheese that anchors a Spanish board.
The paste is pale yellow, firm and compact, breaking into clean dense pieces under the knife. On the palate it leads with toasted hazelnut and brown butter, then a layer of beechwood smoke pulls through the middle, with a quiet sweetness and a soft tang underneath from the raw sheep's milk. The natural rind is smooth and yellowish-brown, carrying the smoke closest to the surface where it's most concentrated.
The smoking is what makes this cheese its own thing. Where many aged sheep's milk cheeses lean nutty and salty, Idiazabal adds a clean woodsy character that lingers well past the swallow. Right in the sweet spot for anyone who already loves Manchego and wants to go further into the Basque side of the Pyrenees.
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Idiazabal
Idiazabal
Idiazabal is a hard raw sheep's milk cheese from the Basque Country and Navarre in northern Spain, named for the village of Idiazabal and protected as PDO. Traditionally made from the milk of Latxa and Carranzana sheep, this is one of the great old-world sheep cheeses of the Pyrenees and the kind of cheese that anchors a Spanish board.
The paste is pale yellow, firm and compact, breaking into clean dense pieces under the knife. On the palate it leads with toasted hazelnut and brown butter, then a layer of beechwood smoke pulls through the middle, with a quiet sweetness and a soft tang underneath from the raw sheep's milk. The natural rind is smooth and yellowish-brown, carrying the smoke closest to the surface where it's most concentrated.
The smoking is what makes this cheese its own thing. Where many aged sheep's milk cheeses lean nutty and salty, Idiazabal adds a clean woodsy character that lingers well past the swallow. Right in the sweet spot for anyone who already loves Manchego and wants to go further into the Basque side of the Pyrenees.
Product Information
Product Information
Shipping & Returns
Shipping & Returns
Description
Idiazabal is a hard raw sheep's milk cheese from the Basque Country and Navarre in northern Spain, named for the village of Idiazabal and protected as PDO. Traditionally made from the milk of Latxa and Carranzana sheep, this is one of the great old-world sheep cheeses of the Pyrenees and the kind of cheese that anchors a Spanish board.
The paste is pale yellow, firm and compact, breaking into clean dense pieces under the knife. On the palate it leads with toasted hazelnut and brown butter, then a layer of beechwood smoke pulls through the middle, with a quiet sweetness and a soft tang underneath from the raw sheep's milk. The natural rind is smooth and yellowish-brown, carrying the smoke closest to the surface where it's most concentrated.
The smoking is what makes this cheese its own thing. Where many aged sheep's milk cheeses lean nutty and salty, Idiazabal adds a clean woodsy character that lingers well past the swallow. Right in the sweet spot for anyone who already loves Manchego and wants to go further into the Basque side of the Pyrenees.
