Appenzeller Edel, the Purple Label, is a raw cow's milk Alpine from the Appenzell region of northeast Switzerland, aged a minimum of nine months. This is the longer-aged sibling of the classic Appenzeller, and the extra time in the cave is what you taste.
The paste is firm and dense, pale gold, and breaks in clean slabs under the knife with a scatter of tyrosine crystals that give a soft crunch through the middle. The rind is hand-washed throughout aging with the Sulz, a proprietary herbal brine of wine, cider, herbs and spices whose exact recipe is famously guarded by only a handful of people. That wash is the whole personality of the cheese, it pushes an aromatic, savory-spicy note through the outer paste that sets it apart from every other Alpine on the counter.
On the palate it opens with toasted hazelnut and brown butter, then the herbal brine pulls through the middle with a warm, gentle spice on the back of the palate. The finish is long and savory, more concentrated than the younger black label, with the nutty pull you want from a properly aged Swiss wheel. If you already love a cave-aged Gruyère but want something with a little more attitude coming off the rind, the Edel is right in the sweet spot.
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Domenico and his team are fantastic. I’m a chef and I often get my supplies from The Cheese Store — unique products, carefully selected, from top Italian and French cheeses to excellent local ones.
Absolutely loved the cheese store! Everyone was super helpful and friendly. Lena helped us — she was very knowledgeable on all the cheeses: where they came from, what the region is like, what they are known for. It was like wine tasting for cheese.
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