Highland Fine Cheeses Ltd are based in Tain, in northeast Scotland, and operate from Blarliath Farm. Once upon a time, they had just 14 Shorthorn cows and a bull named Geordie, that went on many a troublesome escapade, but now the farm is on a much larger scale. That said, all of the making, fermenting and maturing of their cheeses remains entirely artisan.
Highland Fine Cheeses Ltd produce Caboc, among a number of other award winning cheeses. Their first ever cheesemaking experience was crafting a batch of Crowdie in a bathtub in the 1950’s, and they have been making traditional cheeses ever since. Rory Stone now runs the company and has a particular passion for rind washed cheeses.
Caboc is famously believed to be Scotland’s oldest cheese and is instantly recognisable thanks to the pinhead oatmeal is it rolled in. The recipe for it dates back to the 15th Century when Mariota de Ile, the daughter of the chieftain of the Clan Macdonald of the Isles, took the thick cream from the milk and matured it in barrels instead of churning it into butter. She eventually passed the recipe to her daughter, who passed it to hers and it has been handed down from mother to daughter ever since. The recipe remains secret and is still only made by Suzannah Stone of Tain, and her team of eight local women, for the Highland Fine Cheeses Ltd.
Research underway.
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