Named after Tim Whitney—Jasper Hill’s longest-standing team member—Whitney is an Alpine-style cow’s milk cheese that honors the people behind a mission to set the gold standard of artisan cheese quality. A reflection of community, Whitney is made in a semi-firm mountain style with traditional methods that capture a true “Taste of Place.” It has the distinction of winning the 2022 American Cheese Society Awards Best of Show.
Tim Whitney has been part of Greensboro Bend, VT-based Jasper Hill since 2004. His daughter Alyssa packs and builds all of the pallets, while his sons Adam and Andrew have both worked at Jasper Hill.
“I think that we’re at an inflection point in our industry,” says Mateo Kehler, co-founder of Jasper Hill. “We’ve been through so much the past few years, and this for us is just epic. It is our opportunity to push the boundaries in our market to win new consumers.”
Many of Jasper Hill’s cheeses are named after local people and places. For example, Alpha Tolman is named for a philanthropic dairy farmer who built the Greensboro library in 1930; Harbison is named for Anne Harbison, affectionately known as the grandmother of Greensboro; and Eligo is named after nearby Lake Eligo.
Whitney cheese begins with raw milk from Jasper Hill Farm’s grass-fed cows. The herd’s milk is transformed within the newly renovated farmhouse creamery, which features reclaimed copper vats from the Jura Mountains. Once curds have been formed and cooked, they are transferred to draining molds under vacuum ‘bells’, resulting in a beautifully smooth, tight-knit texture.
New equipment has also allowed the creamery team to develop an innovative natural culture program. This process involves incubating starters and fermenting rennet in a clarified whey solution. Resulting cultures and enzymes, along with the raw milk microflora, come together to make the most complex, terroir-driven cheese possible. The cheese is aged three to six months.
Whitney has a velvety-smooth, pliant texture with signature notes of toasted nuts, cured ham and sweet cream. It pairs beautifully on a cheese board with cured meats, dried figs and pickled shallots, served with a natural white wine. Modeled after classic melting cheeses, Whitney is an ideal cheese to use with a raclette machine; melt it atop a plate of roasted potatoes garnished with cornichons and charcuterie.
