Bleu Benedictin – Made in Quebec Canada by Monks

Bleu Benedictin Cheese

I had the chance to try a nice Canadian blue cheese over the Christmas Holiday. I found Bleu Benedictin at my neighbourhood cheese shop, Goat Inc. in Port Credit, Ontario, Canada. Bleu Benedictin is made by the monks at Benedictine Abbey in Saint-Benoit-du-Lac, Quebec, Canada.

I have tried a few other cheeses made by the monks at the Benedictine Abbey.  See my posts on Mont St. Benoit cheese and Frere Jacques cheese for more information about the Abbey.

Bleu Benedictine is made from cow’s milk and is classified as a semi-soft blue cheese. It is fairly heavily veined with the Penicillium Roqueforti mold. This cheese is produced in 2 kilogram wheels and aged over 90 days.

What does Bleu Benedictin taste like? If you’ve tried one cow’s milk blue cheese cultured with Penicillium Roqueforti then you’ve tried them all. Well, that does not hold exactly true. Of course there are subtle differences, but my point is that there were no surprises with this cheese. It is milky, salty and has a “classic” blue cheese flavour.

The Bleu Benedictin cheese that I purchased was pretty firm. This is not a soft blue cheese like St. Agur. This blue cheese is not going to spread easily. I thought I would get clever and try slicing some for my cheese board. Bleu Benedictine does not slice well. It crumbled very easily and as hard as I tried, I could not end up with a decent slice. The good news is that I have discovered a wonderfully crumbly blue cheese. I would recommend it as a topping for salads or other situations were a beautiful crumbled cheese is desired.

Bleu Benedictin

I would consider this a solid blue cheese but not a stand out. My son, a blue cheese lover, gave it a thumbs up. Blue cheese lovers won’t be disappointed with this Canadian blue cheese.