The best Christmas cheese hampers for 2023

Best cheese hampers at a glance 2023

• Best box to get people talking: The Pong Christmas Cheese Extravaganza Box, £49.95
• Best for DIY enthusiasts: Pipers Farm Build Your Own Cheese Hamper, from £39.19
• Best luxury hamper: Paxton & Whitfield 12 Days of Christmas Hamper, £80
• Best balanced British box: Dukeshill Cheese Lover’s Hamper, £80
• Best hamper for wine and accompaniments: Cartwright & Butler Ultimate Cheeseboard Hamper with white wine, £100
• Best overall value hamper: The Cheese Collective Festive Hamper, from £47.50
• Best for lovers of Italian cheeses: Imp & Maker Ultimate Cheese Hamper, £95
• Best wax-wrapped truckles and wine: Snowdonia Cheese Company’s Luxury Cheese and Wine Hamper, £70
• Best hamper for discovering something different: The Cheese Society’s Christmas Cheeseboard, £58
• Best European selection: Mouse & Grape’s Classic Christmas Hamper, £130
• Best box for British classics: Homage2Fromage vs George & Joseph Christmas Cheese Spectacular, £65
• Best box to make a difference: Neal’s Yard Dairy’s Community Cheese of the Month Selection, £48
• Best for Irish cheese classics: IndieFude’s Irresistible Irish Cheese Classics, from £26.95
• Best cheese hamper to gift: The Fine Cheese Co. Cheese and Cheese Platter Gift, £64
• Best Welsh cheese selection: Ty Caws Ultimate Welsh Christmas Cheese Box, £54
• Best box of mini truckles: The Godminster Grazing Goodness Gift Box, £42
• Best selection to build the excitement: No2 Pound Street’s The 12 Days Briefore Cheesemass, £65
• Best Scottish cheese selection: The Cheese Lady’s "Bonnie Melina", £67
• Best luxury French cheese selection: La Fromagerie French Festive Board, from £75
• Best for a Christmas activity: Rennet & Rind The Christmas Edition Mystery Cheese Box, from £48
• Best smooth and creamy hamper: Fen Farm Dairy Christmas Cheese Box, £48
• Best British artisan hamper: The Courtyard Dairy The Perfect Christmas Cheeseboard, £33.75
• Best for a taste of Devon: Sharpham Dairy Essential Devon Cheese Board, £30
• Best British all-rounder box: Darts Farm Ultimate Christmas Cheeseboard, £55

BBC Good Food Cheese Club

Want the cheese deliveries to just keep coming? Try out the BBC Good Food Cheese Club in partnership with cheesegeek. The current Christmas Cheeseboard box contains five carefully chosen British cheeses, plus crackers, wild bilberry jam and tasting notes to guide you through each new cheese.

Discover more about the BBC Good Food Cheese Club and order your first box here.

Best cheese hampers to buy 2023

The Pong Christmas Cheese Extravaganza Box

• Available from Pong Cheese Ltd (£49.95)

Best box to get people talking

Add something special and pungent to your festive cheeseboard.

Total weight of the cheeses: 1.5kg

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Christmas Blue: a soft, luxuriously creamy and blue-veined cheese, handmade in Lancashire, delivering a mellow flavour with a hint of pepper to finish.

Pong's Extraordinary: a creamy Cheddar with earthy characteristics and a distinctly nutty flavour. Brilliant with a good ale!

Sainte-Maure de Touraine: incredible ash-coated goat’s cheese from the Loire Valley and looks wonderful on a Christmas cheeseboard.

Highmoor: a smooth, dense and creamy texture and ochre and pungent rind with aromas of mustard and dry hay.

Delice de Bourgogne: a deliciously decadent triple-cream cheese from Burgundy with a rich and full flavour.

Available from:
Pong Cheese Ltd (£49.95)

Pipers Farm Build Your Own Cheese Hamper

• Available from Piper's Farm (from £39.19)

Best for DIY enthusiasts

Create your own bespoke hamper from Pipers Farm to send to your loved ones. Follow a few simple steps to choose incredible artisan cheese, crackers, chutney, and tipple, and then select your hamper packaging. You can even add a gift message for your recipient.

Weight: dependent on contents

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Cheeses to choose from include: Baron Bigod, Tunworth, St Jude, St Cera, Pitchfork organic cheddar, Bix, Bath Soft Cheese, Quicke’s Traditional clothbound cheddar, Quicke’s smoked clothbound cheddar, Quicke’s vintage clothbound cheddar, Quicke’s goat’s milk clothbound cheese, Westcombe raw milk clothbound cheddar, Appleby’s raw milk double gloucester, Wyfe of Bath, Cropwell Bishop stilton, White Lake Tor, White Lake Eve.

Accompaniments to choose from: Crackers, wine and treats, two chutneys.

Available from:
Piper's Farm (from £39.19)

Paxton & Whitfield 12 Days of Christmas hamper

• Available from Paxton & Whitfield (£80)

Best luxury hamper

A luxury hamper of cheese, accompaniments and sweet treats in a beautiful gift box.

Total weight of the cheeses: 600g

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Paxton & Whitfield stilton PDO 200g: Made especially for Paxton and Whitfield, the stilton is rich and herby. The texture is creamy and the flavour mellow, with a buttery richness that melts in the mouth.

Paxton & Whitfield Hundred Dram cheddar 200g: Delightfully creamy and made to a traditional recipe. This gives the cheese a unique flavour and character that can only be found in cheese made using artisan methods of production.

Paxton & Whitfield Celtic soft 200g: Versatile soft cows' milk cheese with a buttery texture and full creamy flavour. Delicious on a cheeseboard or baked in

Accompaniments: Fig ball, apricot and cranberry chutney, foraged damson and crab apple fruit cheese, foraged quince preserve, sourdough crispbreads, rosemary and sea salt biscuits for cheese, mini gingerbread men, sea salt fudge, Taylors LBV.

Available from:
Paxton & Whitfield (£80)

Dukeshill Cheese Lover’s Hamper

• Available from DukesHill (£80)

Best balanced British box

The ham aficionados turn their expertise to cheese with this box of artisan British products

Total weight of the cheeses: 980g

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Isle of Mull cheddar: Well-rounded cheddar crafted with animal rennet and unpasteurised milk. In winter, the lack of organic grass is supplemented with hay and whisky grains.

Baron Bigod: Small batch brie-de-meaux style cheese produced by Jonny Crickmore with raw milk from red and white Montbeliarde cows. Smooth, delicate and silky texture with long-lasting flavours.

Ragstone: This melt-in-your mouth cheese is produced by Charlie Westhead with pasteurised goat’s milk. Its smooth, lactic flavour is complemented by a refreshing lemony tang.

Cote Hill blue: This soft blue cheese is made in Lincolnshire from unpasteurised cow’s milk. Boasts a robust blue punch and has a creamy consistency.

Accompaniments: Damson fruit cheese (125g), Laura's apple and sultana chutney (198g), Cornish sea salt thins (120g), cracked black pepper crackers (100g), Gran Moravia and pistachio sablés (120g).

Available from:
DukesHill (£80)

Cartwright & Butler Ultimate Cheeseboard Hamper with white wine

• Available from Cartwright & Butler (£100)

Best hamper for wine and accompaniments

A wide choice of accompaniments and wine for two cracking cheddars.

Total weight of the cheeses: 400g

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Black Bob extra mature cheddar (waxed truckle): A bestseller for the Cheshire Cheese Company, it provides a well-rounded, smooth tasting creamy mature strong cheddar with a slight tang.

Hunter truffle and cracked black pepper cheddar: Creamy mature cheddar delicately blended with aromatic truffle mince and enhanced with the bold kick of cracked black pepper.

Accompaniments: Gouda cheese melts, seeded beetroot flatbread, wafers for cheese with sea salt and black pepper, cheddar cheese biscuits in tin, cheddar cheese straws, red onion chutney, tomato and chilli chutney, mint imperials, olive and garlic flatbread, Cielo Del Sur white wine.

Available from:
Cartwright & Butler (£100)

The Cheese Collective Festive Hamper

• Available from The Cheese Collective (small festive hamper £47.50, large £80)

Best overall value hamper

Huge selection of cheeses from the length and breadth of the British Isles.

Total weight of cheeses: Small festive hamper contains five cheeses (850g); large festive hamper, 10 cheeses (1610g)

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Eden Valley brie: Appleby Creamery, Cumbria. Named after the Eden Valley in Cumbria, the beautifully runny texture will have it oozing off any cheese board!

Mayfield: Alsop & Walker, Sussex. Mayfield is an emmental-style cheese that is sweet, nutty and creamy, and is delicious on its own or melted.

Yorkshire Blue: Shepherds Purse, North Yorkshire. Creamy, sweet and mild, Yorkshire Blue is a great introduction to blue cheese

Westcombe Red: Westcombe Dairy, Somerset. Westcombe Red is a modern take on a traditional red leicester

Keens extra mature cheddar: Keen Family, Somerset. Keen’s cheddar uses raw milk and is aged for 18 months, creating a sweet, strong, nutty and moreish cheese

Nanny McBrie: Appleby Creamery, Cumbria. Nanny McBrie is a soft, deliciously creamy, mould-ripened goat's milk brie.

Gouda with cumin: Connage Highland Dairy, Inverness. The cumin seeds marry perfectly with the gouda, giving it a lightly spiced eastern flavour.

Graceburn truffle: Blackwoods Dairy, Kent. Graceburn is based on a Persian fetta recipe, similar to Greek feta but with an oil marinade rather than brine.

Brighton Blue: High Weald Dairy, Sussex. A mild, semi-soft cheese with a mellow blue flavour and a slightly salty finish.

St. Jude: St. Jude Cheese, Suffolk. St. Jude is a lactic style cheese with a wrinkled, mould ripened rind and a smooth paste.

Accompaniments: Peter's Yard crackers, Galloway chutney.

Available from:
The Cheese Collective (Small Festive Hamper £47.50, Large £80)

Imp & Maker Ultimate Cheese Hamper

• Available from Imp & Maker (£95)

Best for lovers of Italian cheeses

Add some Italian classics to your cheeseboard, along with British belters and Imp & Maker’s house truckles

Total weight of the cheeses: 1.45kg

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Vintage Lincolnshire Poacher 150g

Lincolnshire Red Poacher 150g (v)

Colston Bassett, Gold Award creamy stilton 150g (v)

Mouse House garlic and chive cheddar truckle 200g (v)

Mouse House chilli cheddar truckle 200g (v)

Taleggio, Italian cheese 200g

Gorgonzola Bontazola Mauri (full-fat blue cheese) 200g

Sicilian pecorino with black pepper 200g

Accompaniments: Peter’s Yard sourdough crackers selection, The Fine Cheese Co cherry, almond and linseed toast, Tracklements caramelised onion marmalade, Tracklements fresh chilli jam, sweet black grapes, fresh celery bunch.

Available from:
Imp & Maker (£95)

Snowdonia Cheese Company Luxury Cheese & Wine Hamper

• Available from Snowdonia Cheese Company (£70)

Best wax-wrapped truckles and wine

Multi-award-winning wax-wrapped wonders.

Total weight of the cheeses: 700g

Black Bomber: A Gold medal-winner at The British Cheese Awards 2022, an award winner at the International Cheese Awards and the World Cheese Awards and received a “Super Gold” award at Mondial du Fromage in France.

Rock Star: A distinctively rich cave-aged cheddar, matured to perfection within Welsh slate caverns in the heart of Snowdonia.

Red Storm: Smartly dressed in deep red wax, Red Storm has an intense, nutty flavour and a refined texture.

Truffle Trove: Luxuriously combines Italian black summer truffles with extra mature cheddar

Accompaniments: fig and apple chutney, balsamic caramelised onion chutney, extra virgin olive oil wholemeal crackers, Rock Star fondue cheese bake, Montes Alpha Colchagua Valley Carmenere 75cl – all contained in a small black hamper basket.

Available from:
Snowdonia Cheese Company (£70)

The Cheese Society’s Christmas Cheeseboard

• Available from The Cheese Society (£58)

Best hamper for discovering something different

Tradition meets surprises in this hamper from the award-winning Lincoln-based shop.

Total weight of cheeses: 1kg

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Sari: This creamy, nearly fluid cheese is made from cow's milk and shaped into a pyramid. Only very specific herbs have been selected for the coat. The name “Sari” is derived from the French word “Sariette” meaning savoury.

Winslade: Winslade is a fairly new cheese from the Hampshire Cheese Co. makers of Tunworth. This vacherin/camembert cross-style cheese is encircled in a spruce collar which gives Winslade its unique and distinctive resinous notes with flavours of pine trees.

Vintage Red Fox: A red leicester-style cheese with a crunch, Red Fox has a smooth, mellow flavour and a flaky, open texture.

Dovedale Blue: Dovedale Blue is a Designated Origin UK Protected (PDO) soft blue cheese, handmade at the Hartington Creamery in the heart of the Peak District. Made with local Derbyshire milk on their historic Pikehall Farm, this wonderfully creamy rich blue cheese is brine-dipped rather than dry-salted.

Swaledale Traditional: A cloth-bound, naturally rinded cheese made from locally sourced milk which displays the “Terroir” of the rich Swaledale meadows and pastures of Yorkshire. The make is based on an ancient recipe developed hundreds of years ago and has similar characteristics to a farmhouse wensleydale.

Accompaniments: Hawkshead apple, date and damson chutney and Welbeck Bakery four seed sourdough crackers.

Available from:
The Cheese Society (£58)

Mouse & Grape’s Classic Christmas Hamper

• Available from Mouse & Grape (£130)

Best cheese hamper for a European selection

A tour of European cheeses for your festive board.

Total weight of cheeses: 600g

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Rachel: Semi-firm goat cheese with a sweet, nutty flavour, pinky-grey rind, and mild, fragrant aroma. Perfect for newcomers to goat cheese.

Manchego: Complex, buttery, nutty, sweet-savoury, crumbly texture, distinctive zigzag grey/ nude waxed rind.

Stärnächäs extra mature: A renowned "star cheese" with a supple texture, occasional crystals, and intricate flavours of sweetness, fruitiness, nuttiness, and robustness.

Cropwell Bishop stilton: Nottinghamshire blue stilton, a handcrafted cheese with animal rennet, smooth, creamy texture, buttery complexity, and a spicy, lingering finish.

or Saint Nectaire (if choosing no blue cheeses): French semi-soft cheese, creamy texture, earthy, wild mushroom flavour, velvety grey rind, ages into milky or rich, mineral with vegetal hints.

Accompaniments: Two French wines are included: the 2022 vintage of Sancerre Blanc Les Caillottes, which boasts crisp citrus notes and vibrant minerality and Château Cissac, Cru Grand Bourgeois, Haut Medoc, 2017 with deep berry flavours and subtle oak undertones. Also included are Miller’s Damsels charcoal wafers, The Fine Cheese Co cherry jam, Wilkin & Sons of Tiptree pure honey, Limited Edition Mouse & Grape corkscrew, tasting guide booklet with tasting notes.

Available from:
Mouse & Grape (£130)

Homage2Fromage vs George & Joseph Christmas Cheese Spectacular

• Available from Homage2Fromage (£65)

Best box for British classics

Modern and traditional British classics from this cheese-loving partnership.

Total weight of the cheeses: 1kg+

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Westcombe Cheddar: This artisan Somerset raw milk cheddar is made in the hills of East Somerset. Full of flavour with notes of hazelnut, caramel and citrus.

Appleby’s Cheshire: Appleby's Cheshire cheese is a unique, complex cheese, with a delightfully crumbly texture and a zesty, full-bodied, tangy flavour.

Rollright: Mellow and buttery, a washed-rind cheese from the clover pastures at Chedworth’s Manor Farm.

Colston Bassett stilton: One of only five truly authentic stiltons, Colston Basset is world famous for consistently excellent flavour, rich, crumbly texture.

Ticklemore Goat: Ticklemore is made from goat’s milk from three local farms, with a stark white colour, firm texture and mellow yet complex flavour with gorgeous hints of lemon.

Accompaniments: Peter's Yard crackers, Rosebud chutney.

Available from:
Homage2Fromage (£65)

Neal’s Yard Dairy Community Cheese of the Month Selection

• Available from Neal’s Yard Dairy (£48, including delivery to most UK postcodes)

Best box to make a difference

For each box sold, Neal's Yard Dairy will match customers’ £2.50 donation, meaning every order placed will result in a £5 contribution overall to City Harvest charity. City Harvest distributes businesses' surplus food to charities who can turn it into free meals for those who need them in London and beyond. They take quality, nutritious, edible surplus waste and redistribute it to those facing food poverty.

Total weight of the cheeses: Minimum 965g

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Colston Bassett stilton: Made to a recipe exclusively for Neal's Yard Dairy, this stilton is gentler, sweeter and more balanced than a ‘typical’ blue cheese. It boasts a creamy, buttery paste pierced with the delicate blue veining characteristic of a stilton.

Dorstone: This turret-shaped goat’s cheese combines a light, fluffy texture with bright, citrusy flavours and a gentle acidity. It is a beautiful cheese to include on your festive cheeseboard because of its speckled moulds that grow on the edible vegetable ash rind.

Montgomery's cheddar: Rich, brothy and savoury flavours are the hallmarks of the cheddars that Neal's Yard Dairy select from Montgomery’s. They have been working with Montgomery's for many years and draw upon that experience when selecting cheeses that have the melt-in-the-mouth quality that is so popular with their customers.

Baron Bigod: This Suffolk-born, traditional brie-style cheese balances a clean lactic brightness with mushroomy, vegetal notes and a silky, unctuous texture. It's definitely a cheese to eat in one sitting as, once cut, it has a life of its own.

Available from:
Neal’s Yard Dairy (£48, including delivery to most UK postcodes)

IndieFude Irresistible Irish Cheese Classics

• Available from IndieFude (£40.95, UK delivery £10.95. NI & ROI £6.95)

Best for Irish cheese classics

If you are yet to explore the world of artisan Irish cheese, this is your moment!

Total weight of the cheeses: 600g

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Coolattin cheddar: Coming from County Carlow, Tom Burgess uses the milk from his herd of Jersey cows to craft this two-year-old raw milk, cloth-bound cheddar. Punchy, salty and nutty.

Young Buck: Raw milk blue cheese made in County Down. This young stilton style is aged for a minimum of 12 weeks. Creamy, peppery and smooth.

Tipperary brie: Made by Cooleeney Farm in County Tipperary, this pasteurised brie style is matured for eight to 10 weeks. Soft and creamy, with hints of butter and undergrowth.

Killeen goat gouda: A gouda-style cheese made with goat's milk in County Galway. Aged for a minimum of three months. Sweet, mild and smooth.

Cais na Tire: Made in County Tipperary, this hard ewe’s milk cheese – described as a cross between a manchego and pecorino – is aged for at least six months. It’s crumbly and sweet, with toasty caramel notes.

Accompaniments: IndieFude onion marmalade, Sheridans brown bread crackers.

Available from:
IndieFude (£40.95, UK delivery £10.95. NI & ROI £6.95)

The Fine Cheese Co. Cheese and Cheese Platter Gift

• Available from The Fine Cheese Company (£64)

Best hamper to gift

Three exquisite cheeses and their accompaniments, together with a beautiful ceramic platter that's illustrated by renowned artist John Broadley.

Total weight of the cheeses: 700g

THE CHEESE SELECTION

St Jude: A delicate cheese. The thin wrinkled coat encases a dense lactic core. The flavour is refined but deep and lingering.

Colston Bassett stilton: The last remaining hand-ladled vegetarian stilton. Intensely rich and creamy, with a deep, lingering and complex flavour.

Yoredale wensleydale: A rounded and smooth raw milk wensleydale. It has an earthy finish, balanced by a fresh light sharpness.

Accompaniments: Toast for Cheese with cherries, almonds and linseeds; cherry fruit for cheese; ceramic platter.

Available from:
The Fine Cheese Company (£64)

Ty Caws Ultimate Welsh Christmas Cheese Box

• Available from Ty Caws (£54)

Best Welsh cheese selection

Carefully selected best Welsh cheese, accompanied by Welsh crackers and chutney.

Total weight of the cheeses: 1.1kg

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Hafod Organic cheddar: Organic farmhouse cheddar made from the farm’s own Ayrshire cow’s milk and matured for a minimum 12 months. Grassy, buttery rich and earthy.

Teifi mature gouda: Gouda-style cheese made in West Wales by the Savage family who moved to Wales in the 1970s. Aged for between 8-12 months – sweet, savoury caramel – almost fudge-like.

Abaty Glas: A creamy, buttery blue made with rich organic unpasteurised milk from new cheese dairy Caws Penhelyg.

Abaty brie: A rich and creamy brie with a lemony freshness. made with unpasteurised milk from new West Wales cheese maker Roger Yorke.

Golden Cenarth: Washed in Welsh cider, this is a pungent soft and creamy cheese that is best eaten at room temperature or baked in the oven for more goo!

Brefu Bach: Delicate and creamy, ewe’s milk cheese made at the foothills of Snowdonia. Fresh, lactic with decadent mousse-like texture.

Accompaniments: Cradocs sea salt crackers and a jar of Welsh chutney.

Available from:
Ty Caws (£54)

The Godminster Grazing Goodness Gift Box

• Available from Godminster (£42)

Best box of mini truckles

An introduction to a variety of wax-wrapped cheddar mini truckles

Total weight of the cheeses: 600g

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Vintage Bruton Beauty organic cheddar: A modern and moreish organic vintage cheddar, matured for up to 12 months

Oak-Smoked Cheyney’s Fortune organic cheddar: Smoky and mellow, this organic cheddar is cold-smoked over oak chippings sourced from sustainable woodlands.

Black Truffle Howling Hound organic cheddar: Bold and rich, this deeply flavoured cheddar’s character comes from real black truffles for a truly special experience.

Accompaniments: Golden honey and oat biscuits, beetroot and apple chutney, pouch of Mr Filbert’s lemon and oregano olives,Olives Et Al chipotle smoky chilli nuts.

Available from:
Godminster (£42)

No2 Pound Street’s The 12 Days Briefore Cheesemas

• Available from No. 2 Pound Street (£65)

Best selection to build the excitement

Gift (or treat yourself) to a cheese a day in the build up to Christmas from the Buckinghamshire-based experts.

Total weight of the cheeses: Around 2kg - 2.4kg

THE CHEESE SELECTION

All cheeses will be a surprise and blind-tasted each day, between 13 and 24 December. All 12 will be examples of the finest artisan cheeses from across Britain and Ireland. Each cheese will be dated rather than named, and accompanied by a tasting sheet and info on how to look after the cheese included in the box. Every day there will be a new video online where one of No2 Pound Street's cheesemongers will reveal and discuss the cheese tasted the day before.

Available from:
No. 2 Pound Street (£65)

The Cheese Lady "Bonnie Melina" Scottish Cheese Selection with Melina honey wine

• Available from The Cheese Lady (Classic size £67.00; Grande size £95.50)

Best Scottish cheese selection

Discover highlights of Scottish cheese from award-winning cheesemonger Svetlana Kukharchuk, with a special bottle of honey wine.

Total weight of the cheeses: 750-800g

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Minger: A delectable brie-style cheese from the Scottish Highlands, crafted by the Stone family. Gooey, rich, and aromatic, the cheese adorned with a delightful orange rind that is edible and delicious.

Anster: This firm crumbly cheese with a slight tang, is made by hand using traditional techniques and is based on Cheshire recipe. It has wonderfully fresh, milky notes and a lively zing.

Corra Linn: A prized Scottish farmhouse cheese, handcrafted from raw Lacaune sheep's milk in South Lanarkshire, aged 12 months, with cheddar-like texture and nutty light earthy notes.

Lanark Blue: Scotland's Roquefort counterpart, handcrafted by Errington Cheese in South Lanarkshire from raw Lacaune sheep's milk, offering complexity, sweetness, and nuttiness after the initial saltiness of blue.

Accompaniments: Melina honey wine (A Cheese Lady exclusive), Bramley apple chutney, Scottish oatcakes.

Available from:
The Cheese Lady (Classic size £67.00; Grande size £95.50)

La Fromagerie French Festive Board

• Available from La Fromagerie (£75)

Best luxury French cheese selection

A cheeseboard celebrating some of France's most iconic cheeses:

Total weight of cheeses: 1.35kg

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Valencay: Unpasteurised goat's milk. A creamy, ash-coated truncated pyramid with a light and moussy white pate.

Le Barisien: Unpasteurised cow's milk. A triple-cream cheese lightly covered with a bloomy rind. The cheese is rich and silky on the palate.

Beaufort Chalet D'Alpage: Unpasteurised cow's milk. The raison d'être of La Fromagerie. This classic high mountain cheese has a sweet almond nuttiness.

Langres: Thermised cow's milk. Drum-shaped cheese with a depressed crater-like top, caused by not turning the cheese during maturing. Washed in Marc de Champagne, the interior pate is rich, moist and spicy.

Roquefort Papillon: Unpasteurised ewe's milk. Pronounced tangy flavour, more melty and richer than the usual Roqueforts.

Accompaniments: La Fromagerie biscuits, tasting notes.

Available from:
La Fromagerie (£75)

Rennet & Rind Mystery Cheese Box: Christmas Edition

• Available from Rennet & Rind (£48-£97, various bespoke add-ons)

Best for a Christmas activity

Indulge in Affineur of the Year Perry Wakeman’s handpicked, expertly matured British artisan cheese. Always seasonal. Always surprising.

Total weight of the cheeses: 1.1– 1.4 kg

THE CHEESE SELECTION

It’s a mystery! Six mystery cheeses, with stilton, brie and cheddar promised to be covered.

Accompaniments: cheese biscuits, Christmas quiz, link to Christmas cheese tasting with an expert. Option to add charcuterie, chutney and English sparkling wine.

Available from:
Rennet & Rind (£48-£97, various bespoke add-ons)

Fen Farm Dairy Christmas Cheese Box

• Available from Fen Farm Dairy (£42)

Best smooth and creamy hamper

A cheese gift box, featuring Baron Bigod brie-style cheese, along with four other sublime British farmhouse cheeses, handpicked with tasting notes.

Total weight of the cheeses: Approx 1kg

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Baby Baron Bigod: A luxurious Brie De Meaux-style cheese made using the milk of the Montbeliarde cow.

Lincolnshire Poacher: Lincolnshire Poacher is the beautiful love-child of a West Country cheddar and an Alpine hard cheese, combining the very best elements of both.

Stichelton Blue: A raw milk British blue cheese. Creamy, but crumbly in texture.

St Jude: St. Jude is a semi-soft raw milk cheese made by Julie Cheyney and Blake Bowden. Made using the milk from the Fen Farm Dairy cows.

St Helena: St. Helena is a smooth and delicate cheese made by Julie Cheyney and Blake Bowden. Made using the milk from the Fen Farm Dairy cows.

Accompaniments: Medlar Jelly from Eastgate Larder, buttermilk crackers from IJ Mellis (made with Fen Farm buttermilk).

Available from:
Fen Farm Dairy (£42)

The Courtyard Dairy The Perfect Christmas Cheeseboard

• Available from The Courtyard Dairy (£33.75 (+ delivery £5.95))

Best British Isles artisan hamper

Four fabulous cheeses that are bound to wow your friends and family: buttery and tangy cloth-bound cheddar, British camembert, traditional wensleydale, and creamy, rich, award-winning blue cheese.

Total weight of the cheeses: 1kg

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Fellstone: Based on a traditional old ‘Dales’ recipe of the north of England, Fellstone is aged for three months, by which time it has the fresh lemony-lactic flavours of a good wensleydale, with a supple, firmer texture. This is farmhouse wensleydale how it used to be, and it’s still being developed – Fellstone is one to watch. Made with unpasteurised cows’ milk.

Tunworth: An English camembert good enough to rival the French versions: vegetal, porcini-flavoured and intense. The Courtyard Dairy select only particular Tunworths that are more wrinkled, for a more intense flavour. Made with pasteurised cows’ milk.

Hafod cheddar: With only 65 Ayrshire cows providing the milk, this organic clothbound cheddar is made to a very traditional recipe, giving a cheese that is buttery and smooth, with that special cheddar tang. Made with unpasteurised cows’ milk.

Young Buck Blue: An outstanding raw-milk blue cheese from Northern Ireland. Using old-fashioned British blue cheese recipes from the turn of the 19th century, Young Buck cheese is traditionally made and hand-ladled to produce a rich, lingering flavour. An impressive debut cheese. Made with unpasteurised cows’ milk.

Available from:
The Courtyard Dairy (£33.75 (+ delivery £5.95))

Sharpham Dairy’s Essential Devon Cheese Board

• Available from Sharpham Dairy (£30)

Best for a taste of Devon

The cream of Devon cheeses.

Total weight of the cheeses: 1.1kg

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Sharpham Brie: Coulommier-style cheese that has been handmade at Sharpham since 1981. Buttercup yellow with fresh Jersey milk, it is a mould-ripened cheese – firm, rich, and creamy when young, softening with mushroomy notes and a chicory finish with age.

Sharpham Rustic: Semi-hard cheese, made with Jersey cow’s milk. It has a refreshing light tang that delicately balances the richness of the milk, with a lovely crumbly texture.

Sharpham Ticklemore goat’s cheese: Made from pasteurised Devon goat’s milk. It’s a semi-hard cheese with a beautiful stark white colour, crumbly texture and delicate subtle herbaceous hints on the palate.

Quicke’s mature clothbound cheddar: Using milk from their own grass-fed cows, clothbound and matured for 12-15 months. A rich and buttery cheddar with outstanding depth of flavour which develops as it reaches the back of the palate. Brothy to grassy to caramel notes.

Ticklemore’s Devon Blue: Made by Ben Harris at Ticklemore Dairy. It is an unpressed, French-style blue cheese, sold at four months old when it is flinty, minerally, and light with a subtle blue taste. This won a Super Gold at the World Cheese Awards in 2022-2023.

Available from:
Sharpham Dairy (£30)

Darts Farm Ultimate Christmas Cheeseboard

• Available from Darts Farm (£55)

Best British all-rounder box

Five renowned artisan cheeses to suit every taste.

Total weight of the cheeses: approx. 1kg.

THE CHEESE SELECTION

Colston Bassett stilton: The king of stilton! Wonderfully balanced, rich and creamy.

Baron Bigod: The only authentic, farmhouse, raw milk Brie-de-Meaux-style cheese made in the UK. Smooth, silky and an absolute showstopper.

Kirkhams Lancashire: The only remaining traditional raw milk Lancashire. Buttery, yogurty with a crumbly texture. Subtle yet incredibly complex.

Cornish Kern: A real crowd-pleaser. Sweet and nutty, reminiscent of alpine classics like comte and gruyère made in the depths of Cornwall.

Dorstone: Light and fluffy with bright, citrussy flavours. Enjoyed even by those who usually aren't a fan of goat’s cheese.

Available from:
Darts Farm (£55)

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This page was last updated in November 2023. If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability, please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk.