Raw pleasure!
I discovered Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese thanks to the Kentucky agritourism website (kentuckyfarmsarefun.com) by accident while looking at details for Habeggar's Amish Market. Since I was planning on being in the area today anyway, I decided to check out their cheese store.
The store itself is in a small building attached to their cheesemaking facility, nestled between a farmhouse and a barn. The surroundings are lovely, although the exterior could use a bit of tidying, as their were hoses laying around and lots of flies. The interior facilities were immaculate, so it isn't a problem, but it could scare cityfolk away. The cheese store itself is rather small, considering primarily of a refrigerator and a desk. What makes the trip worthwhile is what is in that fridge.
They present an excellent selection of raw milk cheese. Yes, that's right, raw milk. They use only vegetable rennet, so no dead baby cows, too. Their selection ranged from softer cheeses like Bleu and Gouda, to somewhat harder Cheddar and Norwood, plus hard cheeses like Asiago. The prices were incredibly reasonable, making a trip to the store worthwhile even if the cheeses were mediocre. I probably paid about half what this amount and quality of cheese would have fetched locally.
But the cheeses aren't mediocre, they are amazing! Everything had an amazing softness and earthy flavor that is painfully hard to describe. If you've only eaten industrial-scale production cheese, you've never eaten cheese. I left with four cheeses: Gouda, smoked Gouda, aged Cheddar, and Norwood.
The two Goudas were so soft and delicate it was shocking, based on the Gouda I'm used to from most grocery stores. They both had a mild floral or fruity note, but those words are imprecise. It was a planty taste that was very welcome, but hard to pin down. The Cheddar was soft and mild. Maybe too soft and mild for a Cheddar, but it paired really well with Woodchuck 802 cider, so I can't criticize it too much. The real star was the Norwood. It had an amazing warm flavor that I'm struggling to describe.
My only critism, beyond the cleanliness of the exterior, would be that I don't feel they are experimenting enough with their own cheese varieties. Instead, it appears they are mostly replicating common varieties, except in the realm of Bleu cheeses. I'd really love to see them branch out into some new directions. I'd also love some more really hard, dry cheeses, to counterpoint their excellent softer cheeses. But, I suspect their passion is in softs and Bleus, and I can commend them on following their passion.
Some bad news...because they use raw milk, they cannot sell cheddar cheese curds. Bummer. They are available locally, see Habegger's Amish Market (not fresh), and the raw milk cheese is worth this inconvenience!
I can totally recommend Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese! I can enthusiastically recommend a trip up to their cheese store, too. The prices are great, the staff friendly and helpful, and you can watch them making the cheese from the store! Plus, the area has more than a few other attractions.
**Online Ordering Update 11/30/11**
I recently placed an order for some more Norwood via the Internet. Their online ordering process was quick, accurate, and a great option for those of us who don't feel like driving to Kentucky or tracking down the cheese locally. Shipping was fast and they packaged it well. The Norwood was again excellent, if a bit softer than last time. Speaking of softness, I was a little disappointed in their Asiago...it is too soft. Actually, it was even a tad bland, but the softness was my real complaint, and my only e complaint about Kenny's. Their cheese trends softer than I prefer. Still great cheese though! read more