Virtual Cheese Award Winner

food & drink

Whey to go! Keens Cheddar crowned Supreme Champion at the Virtual Cheese Awards 2022

In a gripping final filled with good-old fashioned cheese intrigue, Somerset-based Keens Cheddar fought off over 200 British cheeses to be crowned Supreme Champion and Best of British Cheese at the Virtual Cheese Awards 2022.

This was the third year of the UK’s only online cheese awards. The final was held on Friday 13th May 2022, unlucky for some but not for Keens Cheddar’s traditional raw milk extra mature cheddar which went through three separate judging rounds to be named the top cheese of the year.

Keen's Cheddar is made by James Keen and family using milk from their own herd of cows fed on the lush pasture around their Somerset farm. The clothbound cheddar is matured for at least 12 months giving it a rich creamy flavour.

The Extra Mature ages for at least 20 months, that impressed the judges. Judges noted that the cheddar was a “fantastic example of a mature cheddar which ticks all the boxes. It is beautifully balanced with complex flavours. Superb job.”

James Keen, head cheesemaker at Keens Cheddar said; “Winning the prestigious Supreme Champion Award at the 2022 Virtual Cheese Awards has, without a doubt, made our year!

“The concept of having live virtual judging is simply a genius idea. It creates a unique opportunity for anybody to peak behind the curtain and learn the intricacies of the industry from a first-class line up of judges who know their curds from their whey.”

Silver was awarded to Blackwood’s Cheese Company for Edmund Tew, a washed rind raw milk soft cows cheese made with organic milk farmed on a regenerative system and Cropwell Bishop’s Classic Blue Stilton was awarded bronze.

The Virtual Cheese Awards was created in 2020 by Sarah de Wit to celebrate and support Britain’s world-leading cheese industry. It aims to demystify cheese awards by making the judging process completely transparent and open to everyone. This unique process helps celebrate creativity and gives cheesemakers valuable feedback from some of the most influential cheese experts in the country.

The five-and a half hour LIVE final took place on Friday 13th May 2022 hosted by BBC broadcaster and local food and drink champion, Nigel Barden and was beamed online to 1000s of cheese fans who watched the cheese action unfold.

Sarah de Wit, co-founder of the Virtual Cheese Awards and Cheese & Dairy consultant said: “It was such a thrilling final and it was wonderful that Keens Cheddar won Supreme Champion and Best of British cheese with its iconic extra mature cheddar.

We only started the Virtual Cheese Awards as a one-off in the pandemic so it’s so amazing to see how its grown in its third year. The passion, prowess and perfectionist nature of the British cheese industry was woven into every aspect of the 2022 awards and was a showcase for how our industry is the best in the world bar none”.

The final featured seven final cheese categories which were all judged by a panel of cheese experts who work at supermarkets, cheesemongers and in the cheese industry. The categories included Cheddar, Speciality, Artisan Hard and Soft, Territorial, Enhanced and Blue cheese categories.

James Keen, head cheesemaker at Keens Cheddar adds; “Our flagship mature cheddar is aged for 12 months in our cheese stores to produce a smooth creamy cheese. It carries a multitude of delightful flavours that develop into a cacophony of savoury, grassy and herby notes, and sometimes into a wonderfully surprising fruity flavour. As skilled artisans, we can spot which cheddars have the potential to become outstanding when aged for longer.

“However, cheddar cheese in its cotton cloth needs care to bring out the best characteristics, and this is where the skill of the affineur comes to play. We use our five generations of experience to ensure our Keen's Extra Mature Cheddar maintains the smooth texture and the flavours grow to an almostlost-forever traditional cheddar experience. Lingering for a long while on the tongue but lasting forever in the memory.”

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