Zimbro is a raw sheep's milk cheese from the Serra da Estrela region of Portugal, the heartland of one of the oldest cheesemaking traditions in Europe. What makes it different from almost every other cheese on the counter is the rennet, instead of animal rennet, the curds are set with an extract from the cardoon thistle flower, a tradition the region has held onto for centuries.

That thistle rennet is doing a lot of the work on the palate. The paste is soft, almost pudding-like at the center, buttery and rich the way only raw sheep's milk can be, and then there's this herbaceous, vegetal pull through the middle with a slightly bitter edge that finishes sweet. Perfumed on the nose, almost wildflower. The texture is so spoonable that the traditional way to serve it is to cut the top of the rind off like a lid and scoop the cheese straight out of the wheel.

This is a cheese for people who want something genuinely different on the board, not another brie, not another washed rind. It eats more like a savory custard than a sliceable cheese, and the cardoon character gives it a flavor profile you really can't find anywhere outside of Portugal and a small corner of western Spain.