A rindless, firm cheese, Île-aux-Grues Cheddar has fruit and nut aromas that increase in intensity as the cheese matures. It begins mellow with a supple paste. Medium aged, the paste becomes firmer with melt-in-the mouth, nutty qualities. Fully matured, it features a firm, slightly granular and crumbly paste with pronounced fruity flavours and nice saltiness.

Produced with thermized milk, Île-aux-Grues Cheddar is made exclusively with milk from the island’s dairy farms, which gives it its typical “terroir” taste. The cows are partly fed with hay from the island’s shores, with no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. This hay, flavoured by the salty waters of the St. Lawrence River, gives the island’s cheddar its distinctive taste.

Cheesemaker

This cheese dairy began in 1976 when 14 producers from the island founded the Société Coopérative Agricole de l’Isle-aux-Grues in order to process their milk into cheese. The operation began in 1977 and took place only in the summer.