This is a delicious, sharp but creamy cheese that goes really nicely with a martini.

The Hebrides are a beautiful – if wet – constellation of islands located off the west coast of Scotland.

One of these islands is the Isle of Mull, which like many places in this part of the world, has a wealth of culinary produce.

Much of this produce goes exceedingly well with a martini, and the semi-soft blue cheese from Sgriob-ruadh farm is just one example.

The cheese is produced on a farm just outside the town of Tobermory.

They have a shop, a cafe and recently opened a distillery.

This is a place where they turn something this green:

Into something this blue:

Note that they also deliver.

The flavour profile of the cheese is strong enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with strong spirits, but it also has an exceedingly pleasant creamy texture which blends very nicely with the oily mouthfeel of a properly cold martini.

Even without additional crudités, the cheese makes a beautiful accompaniment to a martini. If you’re a blue cheese lover, then you know, I know, we all know, we can be quite happy eating the cheese on its own.

However, it’s also really good if you pair it with contrasting textures, such as crackers, perky grapes, nuts, pickles, or even good quality plain crisps (potato chips). This creates a delightful combination of soft-sharp-creamy-smooth meets satisfying crunch.

A traditional pairing for Scotland would be oatcakes but you can mix and match your carbohydrate base.

You can also add chutney, such as the delicious Isle of Mull Seaweed Chutney I’ve written about before.

Enjoy!