Ireland’s best cheese crowned at World Cheese Awards

Mount Leinster Clothbound from Coolattin Cheddar Ltd wowed the judges at the international event held at Pavilhão Multiusos de Viseu in Portugal last Friday, November 15.

Coolattin Cheddar Ltd, based in Knockeen in west Co Wicklow, scooped the award during an intense day of judging for their raw cows’ milk farmhouse cheddar, which is made with animal rennet and matured for 14 months.

Tom Burgess, founder of Coolattin Cheddar, said his cheese won for the second year in a row, defending its title from the World Cheese Awards 2023 held in Trondheim, Norway.

“Last year, we had a Super Gold – the best cheddar and the best Irish cheese. It’s still the best Irish cheese,” he told the Irish Independent.

“Obviously, I always knew my cheese was the best but it was great to see somebody else thought that too.

“It is brilliant to be in the World Cheese Awards, this is a huge competition and to get to the top category is fantastic,” he added.

Mr Burgess has been producing milk from pasture-fed cows at his dairy farm, located between Tullow, Co Carlow, and Shillelagh, Co Wicklow.

“We have our own cows and we make our cheese directly from the morning milk from the cows into the cheese vat.

“We make it April to October when the cows are eating freshly growing grass. This is important for the cheese quality and this is why Irish cheese is the best.

“It’s raw milk cheddar so the milk isn’t heat-treated because it comes directly from the cow into the cheese. It’s quite safe and the natural ingredients and proteins are intact in the cheese,” he added.

Ireland took home 14 awards in total as other notable wins include two Golds, six Silvers and six Bronzes.

The World Cheese Awards, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, is the world’s largest cheese-only event. This year’s competition was the biggest yet, with nearly 5,000 cheeses from 47 counties entering.

A total of 240 judges from 39 counties were split into 104 teams to assess the entries. The cheeses were evaluated on factors such as the appearance of the rind and paste, aroma, body, texture, as well as flavour and mouthfeel.

The assessment is judged blind to ensure fair competition as the judges were given a brief description of each entrant but no indication of origin or their producer.

The best cheese this year was the Queijo de Ovelha Amanteigado – a soft, raw ewes’ milk cheese made with cardoon thistle rennet and matured for six weeks to three months by Portuguese producer Quinta do Pomar.

All the cheeses were entered through one of twenty consolidated shipping points located around the world to ensure every competitor was delivered in the best possible condition for judging.

The event’s organiser worked with the Portuguese authorities to apply for special licenses, allowing the smallest artisan cheesemakers from across the globe to compete with bigger and better-known producers.

It comes as the British entries missed out on the awards this year due to getting caught up in post-Brexit customs delays.

Director at the Guild of Fine Food, John Farrand, told the UK’s Independent the delays “would not have been a thing” before Brexit.

The winners are as follows:

• World Champion Cheese 2024-25 – Queijo de Ovelha Amanteigado from Quinta do Pomar (Portugal)
• Best American Cheese – Bayley Hazen Blue from Cellars at Jasper Hill (USA)
• Best Australian Cheese – Raw Tom from Bruny Island Cheese Co. (Australia)
• Best Austrian Cheese – Kronprinz Rudolf from Obersteirische Molkerei egen (Austria)
• Best Belgium Cheese – Lotenhulle Rouge from Little Cheese Farm (Belgium)
• Best French Cheese – PDO Ossau Iraty raw sheep’s milk cheese from Agour (France)
• Best German Cheese – Baldauf 1862 Meisterstück Alpkäse from Baldauf Käse (Germany)
• Best Greek Cheese – Graviera Naxou PDO Pittara from Nikolaos Emm. Pittaras (Greece)
• Best Irish Cheese – Coolattin Cheddar Ltd from  (Mount Leinster Clothbound)
• Best Italian Cheese – Pecorino Bislacco al Rum e Tabacco from F.Lli  Petrucci (Italy)
• Best Japanese Cheese – Setana from Cheesdom (Japan)
• Best Latin American Cheese – Passionata from Biopark (Brazil)
• Best Netherlands Cheese – MA Montbeliarde from Kaashandel Remijn (Netherlands)
• Best Norwegian Cheese – Snertingdal ysteri Godbiten from Snertingdal ysteri drift AS (Norway)
• Best Portuguese Cheese – Queijo de Ovelha Amanteigado from Quinta do Pomar (Portugal)
• Best South African Cheese – Oak Smoked Stanford from Klein River Cheese (South Africa)
• Best Spanish Cheese – La Cava Barus García-Baquero from Lacteas Garcia Baquero S.A. (Spain)
• Best Swiss Cheese – Alpenhorn Mifroma from Elsa Group (Mifroma) (Switzerland)
• Best New Cheese – Leirgrøv Naturell Vellagra from Hol Ysteri – Norway
• Exceptional Contribution to Cheese – Manuel Maia