At Westcombe we hand-make seven types of cheese by traditional methods.

We only use the milk from our three herds grazed on the lush Somerset pastures within a mile of Westcombe Dairy. This and the wealth of experience passed down through generations means our traditional handmade cheese is the absolute best Cheddar can be.

Our traditional cloth bound cheddar is made every day from unpasteurised milk. As well as having PDO status, Westcombe Cheddar is one of only three cheeses entitled to the Slow Food designation ‘Artisan Somerset Cheddar’.  To qualify for these real accolade, the cheese must be made in Somerset – where the damp climate is recognised as the best for growing lush pastures.  By using raw milk, all the natural flavours come through in the final product, giving the Cheddar its full fragrant and earthy character.

The original recipe that Mr & Mrs Brickell first used in the farmhouse involves a lot of hard work and love for the product.  We cheddar by hand, so that the texture of the curd changes from crumbly lumps to pliable, elastic slabs, which is crucial to create the ‘body’ characteristic of artisan Cheddar cheese.  The slabs are then milled using a traditional peg mill, one of only two others in the country, to promote a unique Cheddar texture and to aid the distribution of salt which is then added to the curd.  The cheese is cloth bound to allow it to breathe, leading to natural maturing and the development of complex flavours.  Finally, it is aged for a minimum of eleven months to allow these flavours to develop.

Westcombe Cheddar has a lactic, deep, creamy flavour to start with which evolves into a complex, interesting citrus aftertaste with a hint of apple and sometimes even caramel flavour.

This is a Red Leicester type cheese, made with unpasteurised milk with the addition of a traditional colouring – Annatto. This makes a 10kg wheel with a dark orange curd and a subtle savoury taste. It is matured for about five months.

We send smaller cheddar cheeses weighing about 2kg to a specialist smoker where it is smoked over oak chips for 12 hours This process produces a…

Duckett’s Aged Caerphilly is made by Westcombe at the same dairy as the Cheddar, using the same beautiful raw milk, and continues the hand-made Caerphilly tradition of Chris Duckett and his family.

Chris Duckett was a third generation Caerphilly cheesemaker from nearby Wedmore whose family started making Caerphilly in the 1920s using milk from there farm. Chris continued to make cheese in the tradtional way and, when he gave up farming in the 90s, he moved into Westcombe Dairy where the two cheesemakers shared both premises and ideas. Encouraged by Randolph Hodgson, of Neal’s Yard Dairy, it was time for the aged Caerphilly to make a comeback. The farmhouse cellar at the dairy provided the ideal cheese store, as specially when we diverted a spring though it to provide humidity, and the aim was to get the cheese to be of unbelievably good quality in all aspects.

Ducketts Aged Caerphilly is round and milky with a citrus acidity but most of all long and mellow.

This is a mild crumbly slightly salty cheese with a creamy flavour. It is sold in 2kg wheels.

Chives are added to the middle of the pasteurized Ducketts Caerphilly cheese which adds a mild oniony flavour which goes well with the delicate flavour of the caerphilly.

We select a number of our Wedmore Truckles to a specialist smoker where it is smoked over oak chips for 12 hours, producing a unique and rich flavour.