Montgomery’s Cheddar, made by Jamie Montgomery at Manor farm is a fine example of traditional cheesemaking and remains one of a handful of cheddars being made in this country using these methods. Jamie is a third generation cheesemaker, with traditional cheddar cheese being made on his family farm for over 100 years, where today the raw milk from his 200 strong herd of Fresian cows is used solely for Cheddar making. Around 120 cheeses are made weekly in small batches 7 days a week to maintain the freshness of the milk. The use of traditional ‘pint starters’, the same strains used by his grandfather over 100 years ago create subtle variation in flavour of each make and lead to a more complex end product. After the cheddaring process where the curd is stacked, cut and turned, Jamie uses an old peg mill to break up the curd. This is what gives Montgomery’s cheddar its unique broken texture. Once the cheese has been formed it’s wrapped in muslin cloth and rubbed with lard before being placed on wooden shelves for maturation, during which they are meticulously turned and brushed for at least 12 months.
The combination of all these traditional methods leads to fabulously rich complex cheese with flavours ranging from meaty broth to sweet butterscotch and a slightly brittle and drier texture than other cheddars. We like to sell our Montgomery’s cheddar at around 14 months aged, please get in touch if you would like to know the age of our current batch.
Please note that you may sometimes find a bit of blue in this traditional cheddar. This is completely normal and you may find it even more tasty!