Colston Basset Shropshire Blue

Colston Bassett Dairy sits in the village of Colston Bassett in Nottinghamshire's Vale of Belvoir, one of only six dairies licensed to make PDO Stilton — and arguably the most revered of the lot. Founded in 1913 as a small farmers' cooperative, the dairy has been making Stilton from local milk for over a century, and today still draws its pasteurized cow's milk from a tight cluster of farms within a few miles of the creamery. Production is small, slow, and unapologetically traditional. The curd is hand-ladled into moulds — a labor-intensive step most large Stilton makers abandoned decades ago — which preserves the delicate curd structure and gives Colston Bassett its signature buttery, almost custard-like texture. Wheels are needled to invite the blue veining and aged on-site under the long-running watch of head cheesemaker Billy Kevan, who carries on a lineage of dairy managers that includes the legendary Ernie Wagstaff and Richard Rowlett. The dairy makes only a handful of cheeses — its flagship Stilton, a Shropshire Blue (the same recipe with annatto), and a small run of unpasteurized Stichelton-style work historically — and that focus shows. The cheese is mellower and rounder than its industrial cousins: less sharp, more savory, with a mineral tang and a long buttery finish. Dom calls their Stilton "very near to perfect," and the trade tends to agree — this is the Stilton other Stiltons get measured against. Right in the sweet spot.