A guide to Cabot Clothbound Cheddar — the award-winning Vermont cheddar aged in cloth at the Cellars at Jasper Hill. Its complex flavor and craft.
Cabot Clothbound Cheddar is one of America's finest cheddars — a cloth-wrapped, cave-aged cheese that brings the traditional English clothbound style to Vermont. The result of a celebrated collaboration, it's a complex, savory cheddar that has earned national acclaim.
What Cabot Clothbound Cheddar Is
Cabot Clothbound Cheddar is made from the milk and cheesemaking of Cabot Creamery, a Vermont dairy cooperative, then wrapped in cloth and aged in the underground cellars of Jasper Hill Farm, also in Vermont. This partnership combines Cabot's cheesemaking with Jasper Hill's renowned aging facility, where the cheese matures for around a year. It's a clothbound (or "bandaged") cheddar, made in the traditional English style rather than as a block.
What "Clothbound" Means
Unlike most modern cheddar, which is aged in plastic as rindless blocks, clothbound cheddar is wrapped in cloth (traditionally larded with fat) and aged as a whole wheel. The cloth allows the cheese to breathe and lose moisture, while natural molds develop on the rind. This traditional method produces a drier, more crumbly, more complex cheddar with earthy, savory depth — quite different from the moist, tangy uniformity of block cheddar. Aging the wheels in Jasper Hill's cellars adds further character.
Flavor and Texture
Cabot Clothbound Cheddar has a firm, dense, slightly crumbly paste, golden in color. The flavor is rich and complex — savory, nutty, and brothy, with caramel and butterscotch notes, a gentle tang, and earthy undertones from the cloth-aged rind. It often develops crunchy crystals from its long aging. It's a sophisticated cheddar with more depth and nuance than typical block cheddar, rewarding slow tasting.
A Record of Acclaim
Cabot Clothbound Cheddar has won major American cheese honors, including top awards at the American Cheese Society competition, helping showcase the quality of traditional clothbound cheddar made in the United States. Its success has highlighted both Cabot's cheesemaking and Jasper Hill's role as one of America's premier cheese-aging operations.
How to Use Cabot Clothbound Cheddar
This is a cheese to savor on a board, broken into pieces at room temperature, served with crusty bread, apples, chutney, and nuts. It pairs beautifully with cider, ale, and robust wines. While it can be cooked, its complexity is best appreciated on its own or as the star of a cheese plate, where its caramel and nutty notes shine.
Pairings
Cabot Clothbound Cheddar pairs with cider, malty ales, and full-bodied red wines, as well as with port. On the plate, apples, chutney, dried fruit, and walnuts complement its savory, caramel-rich flavor.
Buying and Storing
Cabot Clothbound Cheddar is available from good cheese shops and online. Wrap it in wax paper and keep it in the fridge, bringing it to room temperature before serving. Its firm, low-moisture paste keeps well for weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "clothbound" mean?
The cheese is wrapped in cloth and aged as a whole wheel, allowing it to breathe and develop a natural rind — the traditional English cheddar method, unlike modern block cheddar aged in plastic.
Where is Cabot Clothbound Cheddar aged?
In the underground cellars of Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont, in a celebrated partnership with Cabot Creamery.
What does it taste like?
Rich and complex — savory, nutty, and brothy with caramel and butterscotch notes, a gentle tang, and often crunchy crystals from long aging.