Some award-winning cheeses demand a special knife, a marble board, and the ability to pronounce French words without panicking. Jasper Hill Harbison asks for something simpler: remove its top, grab a spoon, and dive into its creamy center before somebody else does.
At the 2023 World Cheese Awards in Trondheim, Norway, Harbison received a Super Gold medal and the trophy for Best American Cheese. The competition evaluated 4,502 entries from more than 40 countries, making the Vermont wheel’s recognition an impressive achievement in a very crowdedand presumably fragrantfield.
Harbison is not merely soft cheese in decorative packaging. It is a pasteurized cow’s milk cheese with a bloomy rind, a band of locally harvested spruce bark, and an interior that can become as smooth and spoonable as warm custard. Its flavors move from sweet cream and mushrooms to lemon, mustard, forest floor, herbs, and gentle wood smoke.
Editor’s note: “Best American Cheese” was a national trophy within the 2023 World Cheese Awards. Harbison was not named the overall World Champion Cheese; that distinction went to Norway’s Nidelven Blå. This clarification matters because cheese awards have more categories than a streaming service has documentaries about mysterious neighbors.
What Made Harbison the Best American Cheese of 2023?
The World Cheese Awards are organized by the Guild of Fine Food and judged by panels of cheesemakers, buyers, writers, retailers, and other industry specialists. Entries are examined for appearance, texture, aroma, body, and flavor before the highest-scoring cheeses advance through additional rounds.
Harbison’s success was not based on novelty alone. The cheese combines technical precision with a strong sense of place. Its thin rind must mature properly, its interior must soften without collapsing, and its spruce band must support the wheel while contributing aroma without making the cheese taste like someone dropped it in a lumber aisle.
The 2023 honor also continued a long record of recognition. Harbison had previously been named Best American Cheese at the World Cheese Awards in 2015, 2016, and 2018. In 2018, it also earned Best of Show at the American Cheese Society competition, finishing ahead of nearly 2,000 entries.
A Cheese That Balances Contrasting Flavors
Exceptional soft cheese needs more than richness. Without acidity, bitterness, earthiness, or savory depth, extreme creaminess can become tiring. Harbison succeeds because its buttery texture is balanced by brighter and more complex flavors.
The first taste may suggest cultured butter or sweet cream. A few seconds later, button mushroom, lemon, mustard seed, green vegetables, damp leaves, toasted nuts, and resinous wood can emerge. The exact experience changes with the wheel’s age, serving temperature, and natural development.
Jasper Hill describes Harbison’s typical profile with notes of sweet cream, mushroom, wood, raspberry, and mustard. Other professional tasters have identified pine, wildflowers, smoke, savory herbs, and a subtle earthy funk. Those descriptions may sound like the inventory of a very ambitious woodland picnic, but they accurately capture the cheese’s complexity.
How Jasper Hill Harbison Is Made
Harbison is produced from pasteurized cow’s milk supplied by local pastured herds in Vermont. Each standard wheel weighs approximately nine ounces and is aged for roughly six to thirteen weeks. During that period, the cheese develops a soft-ripened paste and a rustic bloomy rind.
Soft-ripened cheeses mature from the outside inward. Microorganisms on the rind gradually change the cheese beneath it, breaking down proteins and transforming the initially firmer paste into something creamy and eventually spoonable.
This process creates one of Harbison’s pleasures: a sufficiently ripe wheel can contain multiple textures. The center may retain a little structure while the paste near the rind becomes glossy and flowing. With additional ripening, the entire interior can turn luxuriously soft.
The Purpose of the Spruce Bark
Young Harbison wheels are wrapped with strips of spruce cambium, the flexible inner layer of the tree’s bark. Jasper Hill harvests this material from its own Vermont woodlands. The practice links Harbison to European bark-wrapped cheeses while giving the finished product a distinctly local identity.
The spruce performs two jobs. First, it acts as a natural belt, preventing the increasingly soft wheel from spreading sideways. Second, it contributes aromas and flavors associated with pine, damp wood, herbs, and the forest floor. Jasper Hill’s aging vaults reportedly carry a noticeable mixture of spruce and white-mushroom aromas when Harbison is maturing.
The bark may develop patches of blue-green mold. This is generally part of the cheese’s natural microflora rather than automatic evidence that the wheel has spoiled. A healthy artisan cheese rind is an active ecosystem, not a sterile piece of plastic pretending to be food.
Is Harbison Similar to Brie or Camembert?
Harbison belongs to the broad family of soft-ripened, bloomy-rind cheeses, so comparisons with Brie and Camembert are understandable. All three can develop white exterior molds, mushroom-like aromas, and increasingly creamy interiors.
However, Harbison offers a different experience. Its spruce wrap adds woodsy flavors and allows the paste to become unusually fluid. Instead of cutting tidy wedges, diners frequently open the wheel from the top and scoop out the interior. Its presentation is closer to natural fondue than a conventional slice of Brie.
Harbison also recalls bark-wrapped European cheeses such as Vacherin Mont d’Or. Still, it should not be treated as a Vermont photocopy of a European original. Its local milk, native microflora, aging environment, and Jasper Hill’s production methods give it an identity of its own.
How to Serve Jasper Hill Harbison
Bring It Toward Room Temperature
Cold temperatures suppress both aroma and texture. Remove Harbison from the refrigerator approximately 30 to 60 minutes before serving, depending on the room temperature and the ripeness of the wheel.
A younger wheel may need additional time to relax. A very ripe one may soften quickly, so keep it on a plate or shallow board. The bark provides structural support, but it is not a force field.
Open the Wheel From the Top
Leave the spruce band in place. With a small sharp knife, trace a circle just inside the top rind and lift away the “lid.” Guests can then spoon the paste onto bread, crackers, roasted potatoes, apple slices, or anything else willing to accept a generous quantity of cheese.
The top rind is edible and can be tasted separately or folded into a bite. People sensitive to earthy or mushroom-like flavors may prefer the milder interior, while rind enthusiasts will appreciate its stronger aromatic character.
Choose Simple Accompaniments
Harbison is flavorful enough to be the main attraction. Crusty sourdough, plain crackers, roasted fingerling potatoes, toasted hazelnuts, sliced pears, tart apples, or lightly dressed vegetables provide useful contrast without burying the cheese.
For a sweeter combination, try raspberry preserves, honey, apple butter, or fruit mostarda. Use condiments sparingly. The goal is to complement the wheel, not cover it with so much jam that it files a missing-person report.
What to Drink With Harbison
Acidity and carbonation are helpful when pairing drinks with a rich, creamy cheese. Dry or off-dry sparkling cider is an especially natural choice because its apple flavors reflect Vermont’s agricultural character while refreshing the palate.
Farmhouse ale, hoppy beer, barrel-aged sour beer, sparkling wine, and oaked white wine can also work. Beer emphasizes Harbison’s yeasty, savory, and woodland characteristics, while sparkling wine creates a cleaner contrast.
Wine drinkers can explore Pinot Noir with restrained tannins and earthy red-fruit flavors. Food & Wine has highlighted Pinot Noir as a complementary match for Harbison’s cedar-like, floral, and forest-driven profile. Whole Foods has also suggested sparkling wine, IPA, and fruit mostarda as serving partners.
How to Tell When Harbison Is Ready
A ripe wheel should feel yielding when gently pressed through its wrapping, although it should not appear severely swollen, leaking, or damaged. Because Harbison continues to soften after leaving Jasper Hill’s vaults, texture can vary from wheel to wheel.
A younger Harbison may be pleasantly dense, milky, and buttery. At peak ripeness, it becomes glossy, custard-like, and deeply aromatic. A highly mature wheel may offer stronger mushroom, mustard, vegetal, or fermented notes.
The printed date and retailer’s guidance are useful, but personal preference matters. Some diners enjoy a cleaner, sweeter wheel with a firmer center. Others prefer a fully relaxed interior that moves across the plate with the confidence of lava.
Buying and Storing Harbison
Harbison is sold through Jasper Hill, independent cheese stores, specialty food retailers, and selected supermarket cheese counters. Availability can vary because it is a living artisan product rather than a shelf-stable block designed to survive three presidential administrations.
When purchasing from a cheese counter, ask about the wheel’s ripeness and intended serving date. A knowledgeable cheesemonger can help select a firmer wheel for later use or a softer one for an upcoming dinner.
Keep Harbison refrigerated in its original packaging until shortly before serving. Avoid tightly resealing a partially eaten wheel in ordinary plastic for an extended period. Cheese paper, waxed paper, or another breathable wrapping can provide a better environment, followed by a loose outer covering to prevent excessive drying.
Once opened, consume it reasonably soon for the best aroma and texture. Harbison can technically be shared across multiple evenings, although this strategy requires a level of restraint not commonly observed near an open wheel.
Why Jasper Hill Farm Matters to American Cheese
Jasper Hill Farm operates in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, where its work extends beyond making individual cheeses. The organization has developed specialized aging facilities and infrastructure designed to support high-quality production, natural-rind development, dairy farming, and the surrounding agricultural economy.
Its underground cellars contain different vaults where humidity, temperature, airflow, and microbial conditions can be managed for particular cheese styles. This approach treats affinagethe controlled aging and care of cheeseas a central part of production rather than an afterthought.
Harbison demonstrates how those systems come together. Milk quality, curd development, rind care, wood harvesting, microbiology, packaging, transportation, and final ripening all affect what happens when the top rind is removed.
The result is unmistakably American while showing respect for established cheesemaking traditions. Harbison does not need to imitate an imported cheese to prove its sophistication. It succeeds by expressing Vermont’s milk, forests, climate, skills, and working landscape in edible form.
Why the 2023 Award Was Important
The United States collected 147 medals at the 2023 World Cheese Awards, reportedly its largest medal total at the competition up to that point. Harbison’s Best American Cheese trophy therefore represented the leading national honor within a particularly strong showing by U.S. producers.
That success also challenged the outdated idea that serious cheese must come from Europe. American artisan producers now make respected blues, cheddars, alpine-style wheels, washed rinds, fresh cheeses, and original regional creations. Harbison stands out because it combines technical achievement with an experience that is easy for ordinary diners to enjoy.
You do not need a certification course to understand its appeal. The cheese looks intriguing, smells like a rainy forest, opens dramatically, and can be shared with a spoon. Technical excellence may earn the medal, but immediate pleasure earns the empty plate.
A First-Person Harbison Tasting Experience
Opening a wheel of Harbison feels less like preparing a snack and more like uncovering a tiny dairy secret. The wheel is compact and surprisingly sturdy, with its spruce band forming a rustic collar around the pale rind. Before the package is even fully open, a mild aroma of mushrooms, cultured cream, and damp wood begins to rise.
I leave the cheese on the counter long enough for the surface to lose its refrigerator chill. At first, I keep checking it every five minutes, as though it might suddenly announce that it is ready. Eventually, the sides feel softer, and the center gives slightly beneath a careful finger.
A small knife slides around the top rind. Lifting the lid reveals a pale ivory interior with a glossy surface. It is not completely liquid, but it moves slowly when pressed with a spoon. The texture resembles thick custard or softly whipped butter.
The first bite is taken without bread. Sweet cream appears immediately, followed by cultured butter and a mild lactic tang. Then the flavor expands. Mushroom, mustard, pine, herbs, and something faintly fruity emerge in succession. The spruce does not dominate; it sits in the background, creating the impression that the cheese has spent time breathing cool woodland air.
A second spoonful goes onto toasted sourdough. The bread adds crunch, and its acidity sharpens the creamy flavors. With a slice of tart apple, Harbison becomes brighter and slightly sweeter. A small spoonful of raspberry preserves brings out a surprising berry note already hiding in the cheese.
Dry sparkling cider produces the most enjoyable pairing. Its bubbles clear the richness from the palate, while the apple flavor feels completely natural beside the earthy cheese. A hoppy beer creates a more forceful combination, strengthening Harbison’s herbal bitterness and mustard-like finish.
As the wheel warms, it becomes softer and more aromatic. The paste closest to the bark carries the strongest spruce and mushroom character. The center remains sweeter and milkier, so each spoonful changes depending on where it is taken.
The experience is also social. A conventional cheese board can make guests oddly polite, with everyone cutting microscopic pieces while pretending not to want the final wedge. Harbison eliminates that ceremony. Once the top comes off, people lean closer, compare tasting notes, and start proposing increasingly ambitious dipping materials.
Roasted potatoes are excellent. Plain potato chips are dangerously effective. A piece of crusty bread remains the most reliable choice because it holds enough cheese without introducing too much competing flavor. By the end, somebody is almost guaranteed to scrape the inside of the bark with unnecessary determination.
What makes Harbison memorable is not creaminess alone. Plenty of cheeses are rich. Harbison creates a sequence of sensations: the spruce aroma, the soft rind, the dramatic opening, the flowing paste, and the transition from sweet dairy flavors to mushrooms, mustard, herbs, and wood.
It feels refined without becoming formal. It rewards careful tasting, yet it is equally satisfying when eaten while standing beside the kitchen counter with a cracker in one hand and the cheese lid in the other.
After tasting it, the Best American Cheese title becomes easier to understand. Harbison is technically accomplished, regionally expressive, and genuinely fun to eat. It does not behave like an everyday supermarket cheeseand that is precisely the point.
Conclusion
Jasper Hill Harbison earned the Best American Cheese trophy at the 2023 World Cheese Awards by delivering far more than indulgent texture. Its pasteurized Vermont cow’s milk, naturally developed bloomy rind, locally harvested spruce wrap, and carefully managed aging process produce a cheese with sweetness, acidity, earthiness, and savory depth.
Serve it near room temperature, remove the top rind, and share the spoonable interior with good bread, apples, potatoes, cider, beer, or sparkling wine. Just remember to buy enough. A nine-ounce wheel sounds generous until the lid comes off and everyone suddenly remembers how much they enjoy supporting American agriculture.
