Rush Out And Get Your Rush Creek Reserve Before It’s All Gone

Umm.

Yeah.

This cheese is ridiculous.

Thanks to my fellow cheesemonger and Artisan Cheese Company shop owner, Louise Converse, I was newly introduced to Rush Creek Reserve.

This washed rind beauty from Uplands Cheese…well, it stinks. Like legitimately smells funky in a way that might make you question what’s happening inside. It’s not a foul smell, but it is quite ammoniated and strong, leaving you certain that the inside would follow suit. But, this cheese is a trickster. The inside is ooey and gooey and all out glorious.

Here’s what Uplands Cheese has to say about it:

“Rush Creek Reserve is made only in the autumn, as the diet of our cows begins to change from the fresh pastures of summer to the winter’s dry hay. It is designed to show off the richer texture of our hay-fed milk and the delicate ripeness of a soft, young cheese. Rush Creek Reserve is made with raw milk and is inspired by the French Vacherin Mont d’Or, and is bound in spruce bark, which gives shape to the soft round and imparts a sweet, woodsy flavor to the cheese. Combined with the savory flavors born from the rind, this gives the custard-soft paste a deep but delicate richness, reminiscent of beef broth or finely cured meat.”

If you don’t think “God, I want my cheese to taste like beef broth and finely cured meat,” then you’re doing it wrong. Beef broth cheese for life.

Chances are this cheese is already gone. So, I guess that makes me a tease. It’s usually seen before the holidays and is hard to get your hands on. We only got a handful into the shop and the few lucky buyers returned immediately to open-mouth kiss us for sending them home with this beautiful, creamy disk o’ goodness.

If you can still find this cheese, then buy it immediately, go home, set it on the counter for 45 minutes, open the windows, claw the paper off like a wild animal, peel back the top and eat it with a spoon like a bowl of ice cream. Don’t be ashamed if you eat the entire thing in 10 minutes. I did.

If you are in the area, come see us at the cheese shop on Main Street. We have a few more bark-wrapped beauties to please your palate.