The Cueva del Molín cabrales cheese won the silver medal in the “Blue cheese with designation of origin” category and the Smoked Sandwich Cheese was awarded the bronze medal within the “Hard cheese” category at the “World Cheese Awards” 2018 championship event.

The World Cheese Awards judging panel included 230 experts from 29 countries (wholesale buyers, technicians, journalists, gastronomes, expert tasters, etc.), and to determine the quality of the cheeses and to ensure they are worthy of distinction, the judges highlight qualities such as “the crust, the body of the cheese, colour, texture, consistency and, above all, its flavour,” says the official website of the contest.

“World Cheese Awards” is one of the most prestigious events in the international cheese industry. This contest is popularly known as the “Cheese Olympics”. The 2018 edition was held in Bergen (Norway) with a record participation of 3,500 cheeses from around the world.

Two of the main protagonists of the edition were the Cueva del Molín cabrales cheese and the Smoked Sandwich Cheese, both made using Central Lechera Asturiana milk and awarded for the second consecutive year with the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

The first has been the most awarded Cabrales cheese of the contest in the last decade, with six “World Cheese Awards” in the different categories and a silver CINCHO award. It is a blue cheese manufactured using traditional artisan techniques and under the umbrella of the official designation of origin, made from raw cow’s milk, matured in a natural cave and with a three-month curing process. The second is a cheese smoked in the purest traditional style using birch wood without bark.