Basque sheep's milk cheese with toasted hazelnut, brown butter, and beechwood smoke.
Smoked raw sheep's milk Idiazabal PDO from Spain's Basque Country. Nutty, buttery paste with clean beechwood smoke. Order online.
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Idiazabal is a hard raw sheep's milk cheese from the Basque Country and Navarre in northern Spain, named for the village of Idiazabal and protected as PDO. Traditionally made from the milk of Latxa and Carranzana sheep, this is one of the great old-world sheep cheeses of the Pyrenees and the kind of cheese that anchors a Spanish board.
The paste is pale yellow, firm and compact, breaking into clean dense pieces under the knife. On the palate it leads with toasted hazelnut and brown butter, then a layer of beechwood smoke pulls through the middle, with a quiet sweetness and a soft tang underneath from the raw sheep's milk. The natural rind is smooth and yellowish-brown, carrying the smoke closest to the surface where it's most concentrated.
The smoking is what makes this cheese its own thing. Where many aged sheep's milk cheeses lean nutty and salty, Idiazabal adds a clean woodsy character that lingers well past the swallow. Right in the sweet spot for anyone who already loves Manchego and wants to go further into the Basque side of the Pyrenees.
Firm and compact pale yellow paste that breaks into clean dense pieces under the knife, with a smooth close-grained body and very little give.
Pronounced and layered, nutty and buttery up front with a clear beechwood smoke pulling through the middle and a quiet sweet-tangy finish underneath.
The smoke lingers well past the swallow, with a sweet sheep's milk pull and a savory tang that holds on the back of the palate.
Sheepy buttery lactic notes sit in the middle of the palate, rounded rather than fresh, with a soft creamy richness behind the smoke.
Toasted hazelnut and brown butter run through the paste, the calling card of a properly aged raw sheep's milk cheese from the Pyrenees.
Beechwood smoke gives a clean woodsy earthiness, more campfire than barnyard, tied to the traditional smoking over local hardwood.
A gentle tang on the finish, not piquant, with just a faint sharpness from the aged sheep's milk.
Natural rind
Smooth yellowish-brown natural rind carrying the beechwood smoke, edible but typically trimmed; it concentrates the smoky character closest to the surface.
Idiazabal stands on its own, but the right partners turn a wedge into a moment. Regional pairings first — they were built for each other.
Spanish reds and the local Basque whites and ciders echo the cheese's origin, with enough acidity and structure to carry the smoke and the rich sheep's milk fat.
Classic Spanish accompaniments like membrillo and Marcona almonds lean into the nutty buttery paste, while a touch of honey or cherry softens the smoke.
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Hand-cut to order the day it ships. Packed cold for overnight delivery.
Taste it for yourself →Cold-ship 2-day overnight nationwide
