Mount Leinster – Coolattin Cheddar

Mount Leinster from Coolattin Cheddar is traditional handmade extra mature cheddar (up to 18 months) coated with cloth. In contrast is the hard, pale yellow interior with occasional fissures, very typical of artisanal mature cheddars. The flavour is sweet and fruity when young, and develops more complex nutty notes as the cheese ages.

Tom Burgess has been producing top quality milk from his pasture fed cows in West Wicklow for over twenty years. He wanted to develop a product which reflected this quality and decided it would be a mature Raw Milk Cheddar, that would emphasise the ethos and practice of “Pasture to Cheddar the same day”.

Tom says, “The milk we use to make Coolattin Cheddar is special for a number of reasons, we process in the summer months when the cows are grazing fresh clover-rich pasture only which is the ideal diet for cheese processing milk. We use early morning milk which is high in melatonin which aids relaxation and sleep. It is pumped directly to the cheese-vat, not stored or pasteurised, this natural goodness & flavour is preserved by our traditional cheese-making process. We add beneficial Lacto-bacilli & Rennet to our milk, the curd is cut, scalded, drained & pitched the cheddar, milled, salted & mixed by hand. Following this we place in 40b moulds and press for 2 days. It is then matured over a year at 10°C.”

Mount Leinster and all Coolattin Cheddar pairs well with Irish Cider and we love it with a sprinkling of beech smoked dulse seaweed.