Yet another Stinky Cheese Tuesday is upon us, and today has seen some beautiful stuff, indeed.  It has been a bit busy today, so the picture was rushed, on a Christmas plate, and just plain ugly but you take what you can get.

First off, in the back, is Cabot’s Smoky Bacon Cheddar.  If that isn’t self-explanatory, I don’t know what is.  This is a cheese that really marries the flavor, saltiness, and all around beauty that is bacon to the sharpness of a great cheddar.  My taste buds are a-flutter!

Front left is Carr Valley’s Cranberry Chipotlé Cheddar.  This cheese really surprised me.  Most of the chipotlé and habenero cheeses that I try are focused on the heat of the peppers.  This one was almost devoid of heat (except for the piece that Scarlet tried that must have been hiding most of a pepper inside of it), and concentrated mainly on the smokiness and earthiness of the chipotlé.  The cranberries kind of snuck in on the back end with more of a bitter note than a sweetness.  Excellent cheese, and a happy surprise!

Front right is Artequeso’s Manchego Semi-Curado.  This cheese is amazing.  It is a manchego that hasn’t been completely aged, so you have the mellow, salty-nuttiness that you get with a typical manchego, but the consistency is more like a cheddar than a parmesian.  A very enticing cheese, indeed!

In addition, my buddy Ben at the Refectory brought in another manchego, and some wonderful buttermilk blue cheese that I ate way too much of.  In all probability, the buttermilk blue wins as the best cheese of the day.  If I had known I was going to be competing against a blue I would have made sure that my cheeses had an 80’s montage so it would have been at least a more even competition.

I’m looking forward to next week!