Stilton Cheese

From England's Licensed Dairies

Only a handful of English dairies are licensed to make Stilton, and we buy from the best of them. Colston Bassett still hand-ladles its curd — a step almost everyone else abandoned — and you can taste it in the fudgy, silky paste.

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6 Products
Blue Stilton DOP Cheese

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Blue Stilton DOP Cheese

Blue Stilton DOP Half Moon Cut Gift Box
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Blue Stilton DOP Half Moon Cut Gift Box

English Waxed Rind Stilton

Hartington Creamery

English Waxed Rind Stilton Cheese

Colston Bassett Stilton

Neal's Yard Dairy

Colston Bassett Stilton Cheese

Long Clawson Royal Blue Stilton DOP Cheese

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Long Clawson Royal Blue Stilton DOP Cheese

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Thistle Hill White Stilton DOP Cheese with Fruit

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Thistle Hill White Stilton DOP Cheese with Fruit

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Stilton DOP: The Rules Behind the Name

Stilton is one of England's most tightly controlled foods. The DOP designation (the EU equivalent of PDO) means the name can only be applied to blue cheese made in three specific English counties: Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Derbyshire. The rules go further than geography: Stilton must be made with pasteurized local milk, set in cylindrical moulds, never pressed, hand-sealed to form its natural rind, and needled to allow the development of the characteristic blue veining. A minimum aging period of around nine weeks is required before the cheese can be sold. Fewer than a handful of licensed dairies can legally produce it, and the Stilton Cheese Makers' Association actively enforces the designation against misuse. One consequence worth knowing: the town of Stilton in Cambridgeshire — from which the cheese took its name, because an innkeeper there popularized it in the 18th century — is not in any of the three designated counties, and a cheese made there could not legally be called Stilton today.

The Dairies on This Page

Three of England's most respected Stilton producers are represented in the collection. Colston Bassett Dairy, founded in 1913 as a small farmers' cooperative in Nottinghamshire's Vale of Belvoir, is widely considered the benchmark for Blue Stilton. Unlike most large Stilton producers, Colston Bassett still hand-ladles its curd rather than machine-filling moulds — a labor-intensive step that preserves the curd's delicate structure and produces a cheese with a creamier, more custard-like texture and a richer blue character. The dairy draws its pasteurized milk from farms within a few miles of the creamery, and has had only four head cheesemakers in over a century of production. The Neal's Yard Dairy Colston Bassett Stilton on this page is the imported version of that cheese, arriving via London's most respected specialist affineur and importer, which has carried Colston Bassett exclusively for decades.

Hartington Creamery in Derbyshire produces the Waxed Rind Stilton on this page, a firmer, wax-sealed format that travels and stores particularly well without the natural rind that open-format Stilton requires. Long Clawson Dairy, a Leicestershire cooperative founded in 1911, produces the Royal Blue Stilton; Long Clawson is the highest-volume of the licensed Stilton producers and the version most commonly found in UK supermarkets, though Royal Blue is a premium tier within their range. The Half Moon Cut Stilton Gift Box is cut from the center of a whole Blue Stilton wheel, giving a cross-section that shows the full development of the blue veining and presents the cheese in the classic gift format used in England for centuries.

Blue Stilton vs White Stilton

Both Blue and White Stilton DOP are made under the same geographic and production rules, from the same pasteurized cow's milk in the same three counties. The difference is that White Stilton has no Penicillium roqueforti added during production, so the characteristic blue mould never develops. White Stilton is aged for only four weeks rather than the minimum nine weeks for Blue, which makes it a younger, milder, more lactic cheese — creamy and slightly tangy rather than savory and pungent. Its mild flavor makes it well-suited to blending with fruit additions, which is why most White Stilton sold commercially comes studded with dried cranberries, apricots, mango and ginger, or other fruit. The Thistle Hill White Stilton with Fruit on this page is that version. On a cheese board, Blue Stilton is the bolder closer; White Stilton with fruit fits the dessert position or a holiday platter where something mild and festive-looking is wanted.

Serving Stilton

Stilton is at its best served at room temperature, which means pulling it out of the fridge an hour before serving. Cold Stilton tastes flat and sharp; at room temperature the creamy base and the complex blue character come into balance. For the classic British presentation, cut a wedge and serve it alongside oatcakes and a glass of tawny or vintage Port — the sweetness and oxidative depth of Port is one of the great natural foils to Stilton's saltiness. Beyond Port, Stilton pairs with Sauternes, Barsac, and other botrytized dessert wines; a sweet Oloroso or PX Sherry; and strong, slightly sweet ales. Avoid most dry reds — the tannin and the blue don't resolve well together. For a cheese board, Stilton works best as the bold anchor at the end of a progression, with something creamy (Brie, triple crème) and something firm (aged Cheddar or Gruyère) providing contrast. Store cut Stilton in a cheese storage bag — breathable wrapping slows drying and keeps the natural rind from hardening prematurely between servings.

Also Worth Exploring

The Stilton collection is the focused, named-cheese view. For the broader English cheese collection (Shropshire Blue, clothbound cheddar, Wensleydale, and the territorial varieties alongside Stilton), that page is the wider entry point. For the full range of blue cheeses from Roquefort and Gorgonzola to domestic American blues, the blue cheese collection covers every major variety. Stilton sits naturally on a board with a bold aged cheese; extra-sharp cheeses are the natural companion. And for anyone building a gift around Stilton, the cheese gift baskets and boxes collection includes Stilton-appropriate assortments and ready-to-ship gift sets.

Stilton Cheese: Frequently Asked Questions

Stilton DOP is defined by its geography, its production method, and its specific flavor profile. Geographically, it can only be made in three English counties — Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Derbyshire — by a handful of licensed dairies. Technically, it must be set in open-topped moulds without pressing, hand-sealed to form its natural rind, and needled to develop the blue veining. The result is a cheese with a dense, creamy, slightly crumbly paste, ivory to straw-colored, with broad blue-green veining running through it. The flavor is distinctly English blue: rich, buttery, and savory with a salty bite and complex mould character that develops further with age. Compared to Roquefort (sharper, more pungent, made from sheep's milk), Gorgonzola (softer, more spreadable, Italian), and domestic American blues (generally milder), Stilton is in the middle register — bold but not aggressive, with a creaminess that softens the blue.

Colston Bassett is considered the benchmark for several reasons. The dairy is small — drawing milk from a cluster of farms within a few miles — so the milk is consistently fresh and locally characteristic. More important is the production method: Colston Bassett hand-ladles its curd, which preserves the delicate curd structure that machine-filling destroys. The hand-ladled curd produces a creamier, more complex cheese with a finer, more even blue distribution and a buttery rather than crumbly base texture. The dairy has had only four head cheesemakers in over a century, which means the recipe and methods have been passed down with minimal drift. Neal's Yard Dairy, London's most respected specialist importer, has carried Colston Bassett as its exclusive Stilton for over three decades — an endorsement widely recognized in the cheese world as confirmation of quality. The result is more expensive than supermarket Stilton but meaningfully different to eat.

Port is the classic pairing, one of the great British food combinations — specifically tawny or vintage Port, which has the sweetness and oxidative complexity to complement Stilton's saltiness and blue character without competing with it. Beyond Port: Sauternes or Barsac (French botrytized wines) work on the same principle; sweet Oloroso or Pedro Ximénez Sherry is excellent; and a strong, slightly sweet English ale or barleywine is an underrated non-wine option. For white wines, off-dry Riesling and Gewürztraminer both handle Stilton reasonably well. Dry reds are generally a poor match — tannin and blue mold don't resolve well together, and the wine tends to taste harsh against the cheese's saltiness. If serving Stilton alongside a red wine board, put it at the end of the tasting order and pair it with something sweet rather than the wine itself.

Both are PDO-protected and made in the same three counties under the same geographic rules, from pasteurized cow's milk. The difference is that White Stilton has no Penicillium roqueforti (the blue mold culture) introduced during production, so no blue veining develops. White Stilton is also aged for only about four weeks — compared to the nine-week minimum for Blue Stilton — which makes it a much younger cheese. The result is mild, lactic, slightly crumbly, and sweet rather than savory and pungent. White Stilton is most commonly sold with fruit additions (cranberries, apricots, mango and ginger) because its mild flavor accepts them without conflict. On a cheese board, Blue Stilton is the bold anchor; White Stilton with fruit works as a dessert-position cheese or on a holiday platter where something mild and festive-looking is wanted.

The Stilton here is not the mass-market version from a supermarket dairy case. The Colston Bassett comes via Neal's Yard Dairy, London's most respected cheese importer, which has maintained an exclusive relationship with the Colston Bassett creamery for decades and selects only wheels that meet their aging and quality standards. Hartington Creamery is one of only a handful of dairies licensed to produce Blue Stilton DOP at all. Both ship cold in temperature-controlled packaging, arriving in the same condition they would from a specialist cheesemonger — just without the trip to London. For anyone who has only tasted supermarket Stilton, the Colston Bassett in particular is worth trying as a reference point for what Stilton can be at its best.