Basque Country / Navarre · Spain
Idiazábal.
Idiazábal arrives with the scent of a smoldering hearth—cherry or beech smoke layered over toasted grain and lanolin. Its hard, burnished paste yields a buttery warmth punctuated by roasted nuts and a peppery finish, with herbaceous notes from the high-altitude Pyrenean grasses the Latxa ewes graze. Each bite tastes like smoke-cured tradition caught between your teeth.
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The story
How it's made.
Why it tastes that way.
Idiazábal is produced by Basque and Navarrese shepherds using milk from Latxa and Carranzana ewes — ancient breeds that thrive in the Pyrenean and Cantabrian highlands. Historical references to this style of smoked sheep cheese appear in Basque literature dating to the 15th century. The Denomination of Origin was established in 1987.
Smoking with beech, cherry, or hawthorn wood is optional; both smoked and unsmoked wheels are protected. The annual Ordizia market cheese competition is a prestigious showcase for farmhouse producers. Each wheel weighs 1–3 kg and is hand-formed by mountain shepherds.
Production · spec
- Milk
- Sheep · raw
- Family
- Hard
- Rind
- smoked
- Age
- 2–12 mo
Tasting profile
What it tastes like.
Caseo's flavour axes are calibrated against reference cheeses. This is Idiazábal's fingerprint.
Aroma
Nutrition · per 100g serving
What's in a wedge.
A 100g serving — about a finger-thick wedge. Daily values use the FDA 2020 reference of 2,000 kcal. Expect ±5% variation between wheels.
Estimated values — based on similar cheese family data
Pairings · Caseo curated
What goes with Idiazábal.
25 pairings across 9 categories.
Wine
Beer & Cider
Where to find it
Cheese counters.
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