We’re thrilled that Culture magazine chose our MountainTop for its Halloween cheese board, which is featured in their newsletter landing in inboxes this week. Being counted among Culture‘s favorite cheeses is an honor, and with its dark, moody exterior, MountainTop was made for a spooky spread.
There’s just one thing we’d like to clear up, with love: MountainTop isn’t ashed.
It’s blue, not ash
MountainTop is a surface-ripened goat cheese pyramid with a bloomy white rind. The dark layer you see underneath that white bloom is blue mold (Penicillium roqueforti), not vegetable ash.
If it reminds you of something, that’s on purpose. Classic French pyramids like Valençay get their dark coat from a dusting of ash. When our co-founder and original cheesemaker Pablo Solanet created MountainTop in 2002, he designed it as a riff on that classic, with blue mold in place of the ash. It has been fooling folks ever since.
The gateway blue
We like to call MountainTop “the gateway blue.” It’s a gentle introduction for people who think they don’t like blue cheese, and it tends to lead to stronger things. On the outside it looks like an ash-ripened chèvre. Inside, you get the tang of fresh goat’s milk with a mellow blue note running through it.
So go ahead and put it on your Halloween board. Blue can still be booooooo. 👻 And if you’d rather cook with it, try our MountainTop blue and leek tart.
Our most awarded cheese
MountainTop (originally called MountainTop Bleu) has won more awards than any other FireFly cheese. That includes a new First Place blue ribbon at the 2026 American Cheese Society competition, its third ACS first place since 2002.
- 2026 — First Place, American Cheese Society; Culture Magazine Best Cheeses list
- 2025 — Third Place, American Cheese Society
- 2023 — Second Place, American Cheese Society
- 2021 — Silver Medal, World Cheese Awards
- 2019 — Good Food Award; Bronze Medal, World Cheese Awards
- 2017 — Third Place, American Cheese Society; First Place, ADGA Judging
- 2016 — Third Place, American Cheese Society; First Place, ADGA Judging; Gold Medal, Maryland Artisan Cheese Contest
- 2015 — Third Place, American Cheese Society; Second Place, ADGA Judging; Bronze Medal, Maryland Artisan Cheese Contest
- 2014 — First Place, ADGA Judging; Bronze Medal, World Cheese Awards
- 2013 — Gold Medal, World Cheese Awards
- 2012 — Third Place, American Cheese Society; Second Place, ADGA Judging; Silver Medal, World Cheese Awards
- 2011 — First Place, American Cheese Society; First Place, ADGA Judging
- 2010 — Second Place, American Cheese Society; First Place, ADGA Judging
- 2009 — Second Place, ADGA Judging
- 2008 — Bronze Medal, World Cheese Awards
- 2007 — First Place, ADGA Judging
- 2006 — Second Place, American Cheese Society; Silver Medal, World Cheese Awards; Third Place, ADGA Judging
- 2005 — Third Place, American Cheese Society; Editor’s Pick, Saveur Magazine
- 2004 — Third Place, American Cheese Society; Bronze Medal, World Cheese Awards
- 2002 — First Place, American Cheese Society (the year it launched)
That’s 36 honors in all, including 13 from the American Cheese Society, 10 from ADGA judging and 8 from the World Cheese Awards.
Thank you to Culture for the shout-out, and to everyone who has made MountainTop a favorite since 2002. Now you know the secret under the rind, so share it at your Halloween party.
