We have been making award-winning West Country Farmhouse Cheddar at Denhay since June 1959. Using traditional skills and techniques employed in the Marshwood Vale and the West Country for generations. Producing a high quality, consistent cheese without compromise has resulted in Denhay Cheddar winning top awards for many years. We make traditional 27kg rounded truckles, 20kg blocks and our unique 2kg mini-traditional, known as Dorset Drum.
We only use our own milk, hand-make our Cheddar on the farm and then mature each cheese for around a year. This attention to detail and use of traditional skills contributes to Denhay Cheddar’s distinctive, nutty, mellow flavour. The majority of Denhay Cheddar is sold in Waitrose as their own brand West Country Farmhouse Cheddar. Denhay Cheddar is also supplied to many independent stores in Southern England. We also export to America and Europe.
The delicious 2kg Dorset Drum originated 30 years ago, a smaller version of the Denhay Traditional 27kg rinded cheddar. Like its big brother, each cheese is handmade but matures in a different way due to its small size. Matured for seven to 12 months, it has a nutty, rounded flavour, unique to this small truckle cheddar.
Its consistent high quality is recognised in the countless awards the Drum has won over the years, including prizes for Best Exporting Cheddar and Best Packaging.
The Dorset Drum is a perfect gift for cheeselovers, particularly at Christmas. It comes in its own individual presentation box, wrapped in cheese cloth.
There are many ways of enjoying the drum. Cut in half it makes the perfect Cheese Board centrepiece, and once on the dinner table, it’s impossible to resist nibbling away!
You don’t need to wait for a special occassion to enjoy the Denhay Dorset Drum, why not try one today!
After the cheesemaking process, the whey that comes from the process is separated and used to make farmhouse butter. The cream is heat treated to pasteurise it and then cooled for 2 days. It is then churned and salt is added. Once the butter has been made it is packed into 250g rolls. The resulting butter has a unique slightly stronger flavour than most butters and is a rich yellow.
Food hero Heston Blumenthal spent two days at Denhay, filming the new Duchy Originals from Waitrose advert. Watch the finished ad starring Heston and cheddar made at Denhay….and the now famous, Denhay tree!
All our cheese is made using traditional skills from milk from our own cows. Every morning Every day, our milk is collected from each herd and taken to the Cheese House. Each morning the previous day’s milk is pasteurised then poured into a large cheese vat.
Denhay Farms was recently awarded the Grand Prix at the Frome Cheese Show in the West Country Farmhouse Cheddar PDO category.
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