Collection: Cows' Milk Cheese

Crumbly, with a little acidity. Cheshire is one of Britain’s oldest cheeses, but production almost stopped entirely after WW2. Lucy Appleby brought the cheese back in the 1950s, and it remains the only exclusively raw milk Cheshire.

Nutty and mellow in flavour, and flaky in texture. Bound in cloth, and ripened for six months on beechwood shelves, this is the only hand-made raw milk Red Leicester. (The traditional orange-red colour is annatto, derived from the seeds of the achiote tree.)

Rounded and smooth, rich and buttery, with a refreshing acidity. Made in a micro-dairy in the town of Wensley, this is England’s only raw milk Wensleydale that is actually made in Wensleydale.

Creamy yellow, with a rich, buttery-crumble texture. A truly old-fashioned Lancashire made traditionally with a two-day curd recipe. (Curd from a second day’s milk is added to that from the first, to produce a more complex flavour.)

Supple and savoury, and melts brilliantly. A cheese was named ‘shield’ after an ancient bronze shield was unearthed near the farm. It was renamed ‘Ogleshield’ after Bill Oglethorpe suggested washing the rind, so creating a British take on Raclette.

Aroma of mountain meadows. Sweet and gentle flavour. Alp Blossom’s simply stunning appearance ensures this cheese will be the belle of the ball on any cheese platter. The rind is coated in a mix of scented flowers and herbs.

Crumbly when young. Matures to become richly creamy, ‘honeyed’ and piquant. Cashel Blue is named after the Rock of Cashel, which overlooks the Grubb family farm on the Tipperary plains. Made since 1984, this is Ireland’s most famous blue cheese.

Single cream and light vegetal notes. In 2014, Bath Blue was judged ‘Supreme Champion’ at the World Cheese Awards. The competition was fierce, with 2,600 cheeses from 33 countries vying for the top spot, but none could beat this brilliant blue.

A concentrated flavour with vegetal sweetness. Walo receives these cheeses at four months’ old, and washes them for a full year so they retain moisture. The striking appearance comes from pockets of eyelets, which contain crystals.

Aroma of honey. Rich and creamy texture. Nutty flavour. A star by name and nature, as Stärnächäs, made at the foot of Alp Säntis by Kaserei Gabriel, gets its name from the ‘heavenly pleasure’ it provides.

Aromas of meadow flowers and dried fruit. Walo ages this remarkable Gruyère in one of his famously warm and humid cellars, so helping it to maintain the moisture needed to develop such an array of complex flavours.