Aubrey Allen have worked closely with the fantastic Trethowan Brothers Dairy in Somerset for another Autumnal special – EXCLUSIVELY aged Pitchfork Reserve Cheddar, kept to 18 months for an even better flavour.
Having made Gorwydd Caerphilly for more than 30 years, brothers Todd and Maugan Trethowan branched out into Cheddarmaking in 2017 and have never looked back, with Pitchfork Cheddar going from strength to strength and collecting an array of awards along the way. Their mission is simple: to encourage everyone to experience eating cheeses that have been made by hand, using traditional methods and processes. Attention to detail is a non-negotiable and it really shows in the cheeses they produce.
Their outstanding commitment to community is one of the reasons we at Aubrey Allen love to work on exclusive releases with them – they have a ‘never-stop-learning’ spirit that we love. In an industry with lots of secrets and gatekeeping, Trethowan Brothers are keen to share their experiences and knowledge to reinforce the traditions of Great British cheese making heritage.
We partner closely with Trethowan Brothers’ Ben Ticehurst to bring an extra-young Gorwydd Caerphilly in the Summer and the fabulous Pitchfork Reserve in the Autumn – a testament to the ongoing relationship between the dairy and Aubrey Allen.
We sat down with Ben to discover what makes Pitchfork Reserve so very special.
So, how does a Welsh dairy famous for Gorwydd Caerphilly start making Pitchfork Cheddar in Somerset?
After outgrowing the Welsh dairy after 18 years and making the move to a much larger site in Somerset, Todd started to get a glint in his eye…I knew that meant we were about to start doing something new! We are only a few miles from Cheddar and at the time there were a dwindling number of farmhouse artisanal cheddars – only 2, officially. It was a risk, but we had the expertise and the passion for it – and so Pitchfork was born!
How did the Aubrey Allen Pitchfork Reserve collaboration come about?
Last year we arranged a visit with Guy and Craig because we wanted to work closer with Aubrey Allen – you were taking some of our cheeses but there was appetite to do more. Craig asked if we would be willing to age a cheese for 6 months longer – there were flavour profile considerations, as well as logistics to think about, but we were up for a challenge. I think it worked very well, from logistics to taste, so much so that we’re doing it again in 2026-27!
What were the risks involved with trialling an 18 month Pitchfork Reserve?
We knew that some of the best flavours come out of Pitchfork at 12-14 months – by that I mean that there are lots of things that have to come together when you’re maturing a cheese on for as long as you do with a cheddar. These cheeses are ‘alive’ – they’re still developing and maturing all the time with all that lovely good bacteria which are responsible for such a diverse range of flavours. If you add 6 months on to the age, those flavours could go off on a tangent or end up too far past their best and create a really wild, funky, possibly not so nice-tasting cheese.
Luckily, the flavours just got richer and tastier – Pitchfork Reserve 18 months starts creamy before the flavours explode and you get that classic Pitchfork Cheddar taste turned up to 11!
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