Cashel Blue was the first Irish blue cheese, named after the Rock of Cashel overlooking the pastures close to the cheese farm of the family Grubb.
This great gourmet cheese is wrapped in gold foil. Cashel Blue has a beige rind, which develops a pinkish cast as it matures, and the paste moves from firm to soft texture. At six weeks of age, when the cheese is first available in the shops, the ivory paste is quite crumbly with a tangy flavor. Over the next six weeks the gourmet cheese develops a much creamier texture and a stronger, more piquant flavor of dried herbs and woody leaf mold.
Similar cheeses are Gorgonzola and Blue d'Auvergne.