5 Must-stock Spanish Cheeses

Moluengo
A lactic goats cheese log made in Albacete by José Luis Abellán. Ashed rinded, creamy under the rind and denser in the core, with lactic and hazelnut flavours

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A sheep’s milk Cheddar-type cheese made by Rubén in Granja Cantagrullas. It takes its name from the weight of the first wheel ever made. This clothbound cheese develops a rich, crystallized texture with a shorter ageing than most Cheddars and sweet and toasted flavours

Pasiego
This traditional soft cow’s milk cheese from the North, made by Gregoria Martínez and her team in La Jarradilla, is young, buttery and acidic and with milky and yeasty flavours

Puigpedrósw
A cow’s milk, washed rind cheese from the Pyrenees made by Pere Pujol at Molí de Ger. It tastes savoury in the rind and smooth and meaty in the thick, soft paste

Iniesta Manzanaro
Cannot be called Manchego as it isn’t PDO-accredited. The cheesemaker doesn’t agree with many of the requirements (or the lack of these), but it is Manchego from all its sides, made in La Mancha with Manchego sheep’s milk, and it offers a range of savoury and toasted notes