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Cabot Clothbound from United States

Cabot Clothbound

An aged bandaged-wheel cheddar from the Cabot Creamery cooperative of Vermont, matured for ten to fourteen months at… · United States

Also known as Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, Jasper Hill Clothbound

📍 Cabot and Greensboro, Vermont; aged at the Cellars at Jasper Hill ★ 4.1
Last updated Aug 13, 2026 · Reviewed by the WhatWhereVacay editorial team

An aged bandaged-wheel cheddar from the Cabot Creamery cooperative of Vermont, matured for ten to fourteen months at the Cellars at Jasper Hill.

About Cabot Clothbound

Cabot Clothbound Cheddar is an aged, bandaged-wheel cheddar produced by the Cabot Creamery cooperative of Vermont and aged at the Cellars at Jasper Hill in Greensboro, Vermont. Made from pasteurized cow's milk supplied by the cooperative's roughly eight hundred member farms across New England, the wheels are bound in muslin, rubbed with lard, and matured for between ten and fourteen months in the underground cellars at Jasper Hill, where the consistent cool temperature and high humidity allow a natural rind to develop and the flavor to deepen slowly.

The result is a hard, dense cheddar with a slightly crumbly texture and a long, complex finish. Young wheels are tangy and nutty with a clear note of cultured butter, while longer-aged wheels take on hints of toasted caramel, broth, and salted nuts. The cheese has won numerous American Cheese Society awards and is widely regarded as one of the finest farmstead cheddars produced in the United States. It pairs naturally with a glass of dry cider, a young Bordeaux, or a hoppy New England IPA.

You will find Cabot Clothbound at the Cabot farm store in Cabot, Vermont, at the Cellars at Jasper Hill in Greensboro, and at the cheese counters of Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, Murray's Cheese in New York, and Zingerman's in Ann Arbor. It is exported widely to specialty cheesemongers in the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia, and it has become a regular feature of the cheese flights at high-end American restaurants from coast to coast.

🏛️ History & Culture

Cabot Clothbound Cheddar is a relatively modern creation, born from a collaboration between Cabot Creamery, a long-established Vermont dairy cooperative, and Jasper Hill Farm, whose cellars in Greensboro, Vermont, specialize in affinage. The cheese revives a traditional English technique of wrapping cheddar in cloth and aging it in cool, humid caves, a method largely abandoned by industrial producers. While the history of clothbound cheddars in general is centuries old and rooted in the British Isles, this specific American rendition emerged in the early 2000s as part of a broader artisan cheese revival in New England.

The cheese has become a symbol of Vermont's locavore and craft food movement, celebrated for bridging cooperative dairy farming with small-scale, cave-aging expertise. Its cultural significance lies in how it reconnects mass-produced milk with time-honored cheesemaking practices, yielding an award-winning product that has helped elevate American artisan cheese on the global stage. The collaboration also highlights a regional ethos of partnership between producers, aging facilities, and the state's pastoral landscape, making the cheese as much a story of community as of flavor.

🍳 How to make Cabot Clothbound

AI-assisted, not kitchen-tested

Cabot Clothbound Cheddar Tasting Plate with Cider-Poached Pears and Walnut Crackers

A simple, ingredient-led plate that lets an aged Vermont clothbound cheddar shine alongside slow-poached pears and crisp seeded crackers. The cheese itself is the star; everything else is built to complement its nutty, caramel-edged profile.

Prep
15 min
Cook
35 min
Total
50 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Easy

Recipe ingredients

  • 225 g (8 oz) Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, one aged wheel, brought to room temperature
  • 2 whole (2 medium) firm-ripe Bosc or Bartlett pears, peeled, cored, halved
  • 500 ml (2 cups) dry hard cider, New England craft cider preferred, not apple juice
  • 60 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
  • 1 whole cinnamon stick
  • 1 whole star anise pod, optional
  • 1 strip (1 x 5 cm strip) lemon zest, removed with a vegetable peeler
  • 60 g (½ cup) walnut halves, lightly toasted, cooled before plating
  • 1 tbsp local honey, for finishing
  • 1 pinch flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
  • 80 g (2¾ oz) seeded crackers or walnut levain toasts, neutral, sturdy base

Steps

  1. 1 Pull the cheese from the refrigerator 60 minutes before serving so the buttery, brothy aromas of the aged paste open up. Leave the natural rind intact.
  2. 2 Make the poaching syrup: combine the cider, sugar, cinnamon stick, star anise (if using), and lemon zest in a small heavy saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, and reduce by about one-third, 8 to 10 minutes.
  3. 3 Lower the pear halves cut-side down into the simmering syrup. Poach at a bare simmer for 12 to 18 minutes, turning once, until a paring knife slips into the thickest part with little resistance. The fruit should keep its shape; do not boil vigorously or it will collapse.
  4. 4 Lift the pears from the syrup and set on a plate to cool slightly. Return the syrup to a low simmer and reduce until lightly syrupy, about 4 minutes more; it should coat the back of a spoon.
  5. 5 Just before serving, slice the cooled pears about 6 mm (¼ inch) thick and fan them across a wooden board or slate.
  6. 6 Cut the clothbound cheddar into rough, rustic wedges about 30 to 45 g each, taking care to keep some of the lard-rubbed, muslin-marked rind on at least a few pieces — the rind concentrates flavor and is traditional to eat.
  7. 7 Arrange the cheese beside the pears, tuck the toasted walnuts and crackers around the board, and spoon the reduced cider syrup over the pears.
  8. 8 Finish with a thin drizzle of honey and a small pinch of flaky salt over the cheese. Serve at cool room temperature with a glass of dry New England cider or a hoppy Vermont IPA.
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Ingredients
Steps

Cabot Clothbound — frequently asked questions

What is Cabot Clothbound?

Cabot Clothbound Cheddar is an aged, bandaged-wheel cheddar produced by the Cabot Creamery cooperative of Vermont and aged at the Cellars at Jasper Hill in Greensboro, Vermont. Made from pasteurized cow's milk supplied by the cooperative's roughly eight hundred member farms across New England, the wheels are bound in…

What is Cabot Clothbound made of?

Cabot Clothbound is made with pasteurized cow's milk, cheese cultures, vegetable rennet and salt.

Where does Cabot Clothbound come from?

Cabot Clothbound comes from United States, and is especially associated with Cabot and Greensboro, Vermont; aged at the Cellars at Jasper Hill. Cabot Clothbound Cheddar is a relatively modern creation, born from a collaboration between Cabot Creamery, a long-established Vermont dairy cooperative, and Jasper Hill Farm, whose cellars in Greensboro, Vermont, specialize in affinage.

Where can I eat Cabot Clothbound?

Taste Cabot Clothbound at the Cabot Creamery farm store in Cabot, Vermont; at the Cellars at Jasper Hill in Greensboro; at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge; Murray's Cheese in New York; Zingerman's in Ann Arbor; and the cheese counters at Whole Foods regional…

How do you make Cabot Clothbound?

Making Cabot Clothbound at home takes about 15 minutes of prep and 35 minutes of cooking. The recipe on this page serves 4 and is rated easy. Full ingredient list and step-by-step method are in the recipe section above.

What else is Cabot Clothbound called?

Cabot Clothbound is also known as Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, Jasper Hill Clothbound.

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