Gastronome

words by > Nancy Davidson

HORSE and carriage. Love and marriage. Traditional pairings that work well together. But sometimes it’s a good idea to try something new.

Ask any cheese expert what wines to pair with cheese, and they’ll rattle off a list of suggestions. Even beer and cheese pairings have enthusiastic followings. But there’s not a long history of matching cheese with spirits like bourbon. Nonetheless, the combination of aromas and flavors in bourbon, such as caramel, vanilla, toast and oak, make it a great match for nutty, smoky or fruity cheese.

One way to experiment with bourbon and cheese pairings is by taking a class; another is by organizing your own tasting party at home. For a detailed how-to guide, see Dina Cheney’s recently published Tasting Club (DK Adult, $22), which includes grids where you can record your impressions. Here are some tips from her book, as well as from some other tastemakers.

Expert opinions

The strong flavors of bourbon and cheese can cancel each other out, rather than enhancing one another. So while it’s a good idea to get some opinions before you purchase, you should still be prepared not to like every combination.

Provide your guests with tastes of several bourbons—aged, unaged, small batch and from larger distilleries, low and high proof—and then each guest can pick one or two they like best to pair with their cheese.

Allen Katz, Director of Mixology and Spirits Education for Southern Wine & Spirits of New York, suggests that you add a splash of water to your glass to temper the alcohol in the bourbon and keep the flavors round and balanced.

Try before you buy

Try a four-year old aged Gouda or Mimolette. Both have a deep orange color, somewhat crumbly textures and a caramel, nutty flavor that match the major notes of bourbon. You might also try pairing it with jagged chunks of high-quality Parmigiano Reggiano or a softer, younger handmade Gouda like Boerenkaas. The texture and crystallization of the cheese is brought out by the potency of the alcohol.

THEME PARTY

There are so many options that it can be fun to narrow the field. For example, sample a selection of artisanal American cheeses and pair them with small batch bourbons. Anne Saxelby of Saxelby Cheesemongers (www.saxelbycheese.com), a shop in the Essex Market in New York City that specializes in domestic cheeses, suggests pairing bourbon with full-flavored fatty cow’s milk cheeses that can stand up to the clear, caramel taste of bourbon, rather than grassier, lighter sheep or goat’s milk cheeses that might be overwhelmed by the spirit. Her picks include Constant Bliss (a rind cheese that’s soft, creamy and rich with a wonderfully complex, slightly strong flavor) and Ascutney Mountain, an Alpine-like cheese, with a sharp, nutty and fruity flavor.

Whatever you try, you’ll want to really take time to savor each morsel, ponder the details of each bite and decide for yourself what combinations you like best.