The Complete Guide to Our Cut Cheese Counter in East Lothian
At our Farm Shop located in The Mart in East Linton, East Lothian, we've always believed that a great cheese counter is more than a display — it's an education, an adventure, and on the right day, a genuine revelation, we are continually updating and amending our selection of cheeses and throughout the year we will average 50-60 varieties and at Christmas we can often have in excess of 80 varieties. Cheese is one of the oldest and most endlessly varied foods in the world, shaped by landscape, climate, tradition, and the hands of the people who make it. A good Comté from the Jura mountains tastes of alpine meadows and months of careful ageing. A wedge of Anster from the East Neuk of Fife carries the salt air of the Firth of Forth and the knowledge of a family who have farmed their land for over fifty years. No two cheeses tell the same story.
We've spent a long time building a counter we're genuinely proud of with the help of Sheena our resident cheese guru — our counter is one that gives proper space to Scottish and British farmhouse cheesemakers alongside the great European classics, and that includes a handful of cheeses you simply won't find anywhere else in East Lothian. We stock everything from the iconic to the obscure, from crowd-pleasers to proper conversation starters that will have your dinner guests asking questions.
This guide covers every cut cheese currently on our counter at East Linton, though remember we are always updating and changing cheeses we stock based on seasonality, our cheeses are organised by type, with enough detail to help you choose with confidence — whether you're building a board for a big occasion, picking up something for a weeknight supper, or just letting your curiosity lead the way. And if you're still not sure, come and ask us. We cut to order, we taste as we go, and there is genuinely nothing we enjoy more than finding the right cheese for the right person.
About Our Counter
Farm Shop At The Mart is an independent food retail business based in East Linton, East Lothian. Our cut cheese counter is one of the most extensive you'll find anywhere in Edinburgh and The Lothians — currently running to over 55 cheeses, cut fresh to order. We source from Scottish artisan producers, celebrated British farmhouses, and the great cheesemaking regions of Europe. Everything is chosen by hand, and our range changes with the seasons. If you're looking for a specific cheese or want advice on building a board, come in and speak to us — or give us a call before you visit.
🏴 Proudly Scottish
We're based in East Lothian and we take Scotland's cheese heritage seriously. Alongside the great European classics, our counter gives genuine prominence to Scottish producers — from the Kintyre peninsula to the Highlands to right here in East Lothian. Look out for these Scottish cheeses on our counter our current selection of Scottish cheeses is listed here but we go into much more detail below:
Anster — East Neuk of Fife, raw milk, named Best Scottish Cheese 2025
Lanark Blue — Lanarkshire, unpasteurised ewes' milk, made in the style of Roquefort
Isle of Mull Cheddar — Sgriob-ruadh Farm, West Coast of Scotland
Smoked Lammermuir — Belhaven Smokehouse, East Lothian (our local one)
Clava Brie — Connage Highland Dairy, Inverness-shire
Black Crowdie — one of Scotland's oldest dairy traditions
Blue Murder — Highland Fine Cheeses, Tain
Strathdon Blue — Highland Fine Cheeses, Tain
Bonnet — Ayrshire goat's milk
Inverloch Goats — Kintyre peninsula, Argyll
St Andrew's Cheddar — St Andrews Farmhouse Cheese Co., Fife
Connage Gouda with Garlic and Nettle — Connage Highland Dairy, Inverness-shire
The Cheddars
Cheddar is Britain's greatest cheese, and at Farm Shop At The Mart we take it seriously. Our selection spans the full spectrum — from raw milk farmhouse classics to smoked beauties and heritage reds.
Isle of Mull Cheddar is one of the most distinctive cheddars in existence. Made on Sgriob-ruadh Farm on the west coast of Scotland, the farm's own herd and silage-rich local diet give it an unmistakable tang and depth that sets it apart from any mainland cheddar.
St Andrew's Cheddar comes from St Andrews Farmhouse Cheese Co. in Fife — the same family behind our beloved Anster. A farmhouse cheddar with real backbone and a clean, full flavour.
Pitchfork Cheddar is made at Trethowan's Dairy in Somerset using raw milk and traditional cloth-binding. A benchmark West Country cheddar: complex, nutty, and properly aged.
Lincolnshire Poacher is a raw milk cheddar-style cheese from the flatlands of Lincolnshire, made by Simon Jones. Long-matured and deeply savoury, with a smooth, almost crystalline texture and notes of dried fruit and nuts. A perennial competition winner.
Sparkenhoe Leicester is the only Red Leicester still made on a farm from raw milk, produced at Sparkenhoe Farm in Leicestershire. The natural annatto colouring gives it that warm terracotta hue, and the flavour is buttery and gently sweet — a world away from the supermarket version.
Black Bomber is a bold, mature Welsh cheddar from Snowdonia Cheese Company, coated in striking black wax. Intensely flavoured, slightly crumbly, and reliably crowd-pleasing.
Charcoal Cheddar is blended with activated charcoal, giving it a dramatic jet-black paste and a smooth, mild flavour. Striking on a board and a genuine talking point.
Smoked Lammermuir is a particular favourite of ours — a soft, creamy cheddar produced by Belhaven Smokehouse right here in East Lothian, slow-smoked to create a rich, perfectly balanced flavour. Local, distinctive, and exceptional in a cheese sauce.
True Grit PC is a mature, punchy cheddar that earns its name. Firm, crumbly, and unapologetically bold.
The Goats' Cheeses
Goat's cheese in all its forms — fresh and tangy, aged and complex, pressed, and everything in between. Available to buy cut to order at our East Linton counter.
Rachel is made by White Lake Cheese in Somerset — a semi-hard, washed-rind goat's cheese with a gentle, approachable flavour and a smooth, supple texture. One of Britain's finest.
Inverloch Goats comes from the Kintyre peninsula in Argyll — a mild, pressed Scottish goat's cheese with a clean, fresh flavour.
Ribblesdale Blue Goat brings a gentle blue character to the goat's milk category — made in the Yorkshire Dales with an accessible, creamy tang.
Ribblesdale Superior Goat is a firm, pressed goat's cheese with a clean, citrusy bite and good depth for its age.
Bonnet is a pressed goat's milk cheese from a small Ayrshire dairy — mild, firm, and distinctly Scottish in character.
Tomme Grise is our newest addition to the counter — a French-style artisan goat's milk cheese matured for at least eight weeks. The grey rind is its calling card, and the flavour develops from lively and goaty when young to fuller and more complex with age. Ask us for the latest cut.
Chèvrerousse d'Argental is a soft, bloomy-rind French goat's cheese — gentle, creamy, and delicate, with the characteristic fresh tang of a fine chèvre.
Goat's Log is a classic cylindrical fresh goat's cheese — clean, bright, and versatile. Crumble over salads, serve simply with honey, or let it anchor a summer cheese board.
Connage Gouda with Garlic and Nettle is made at Connage Highland Dairy near Inverness using organic milk. The garlic and nettle combination adds a herbaceous, earthy depth to the naturally sweet Gouda base.
Geitost is our wildcard — a Norwegian whey cheese quite unlike anything else on our East Lothian counter. The whey is slowly simmered until the milk sugars caramelise, producing a dense, fudge-textured result with a distinctly sweet, caramel flavour and a pleasant tang. Slice it wafer-thin over crispbread, or try it the Norwegian way on warm toast with coffee.
The Soft & Brie-Style Cheeses
Oozing, creamy, and best served at room temperature. This category rewards patience — always let these breathe before eating.
Brie Dongé is the original and the benchmark: a raw milk Brie de Meaux from the Brie region of France, made by the Dongé family. Pungent, rich, and deeply satisfying, with an earthy, mushroomy rind.
Baron Bigod is Britain's answer to Brie de Meaux — and by many accounts, its equal. Made by Jonny Crickmore at Fen Farm Dairy in Suffolk using milk from his Montbéliarde cows, it's hand-ladled in the traditional manner and aged up to eight weeks. Beneath the bloomy rind you'll find a silky golden paste with long-lasting notes of warm earth, farmyard, and mushroom. A genuine landmark in British cheesemaking.
Clava Brie comes from Connage Highland Dairy in Inverness-shire — a Scottish organic Brie with a clean, fresh flavour and a delicate, creamy paste.
Smoked Brie takes the familiar and does something unexpected with it — the smoke adds a subtle depth that works beautifully with cured meats and fruit on a board.
Époisses is one of France's great washed-rind cheeses, originating from Burgundy. The orange, brine-washed rind gives it an assertive aroma, but the flavour is rich, almost custardy, and deeply rewarding. Not for the faint-hearted.
Brillat-Savarin is pure indulgence — a triple-cream cheese from Normandy with a theatrical fat content. Named after the great French gastronome, it's buttery, luscious, and pairs magnificently with Champagne.
Briard Summer Truffle is a soft cheese enriched with summer truffle — earthy, aromatic, and luxurious on a cracker or melted into scrambled eggs.
Durrus is a washed-rind farmhouse cheese from West Cork, Ireland, made by Jeffa Gill. The paste is supple and yielding, with a savoury, almost meaty depth that develops with age. One of Ireland's great cheeses.
Fat Cow is a rich, semi-soft cheese — indulgent and approachable, with a mild, buttery character.
The Blues
Our blue selection at Farm Shop At The Mart ranges from the gentle to the genuinely ferocious. There is something here for every level of blue ambition.
Stilton is the king of British blues — made only in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Leicestershire, with PDO status and centuries of heritage behind it. Crumbly, complex, and classically paired with port.
Shropshire Blue is Stilton's more colourful cousin — made in the same tradition but with annatto added to the milk, giving it a warm orange hue and a slightly sweeter, more rounded flavour.
Lanark Blue is Scotland's great blue — made by Errington Cheese in Lanarkshire from unpasteurised ewes' milk, in the style of Roquefort. Moist, crumbly, and boldly flavoured with a peppery intensity. A real Scottish treasure, and one we're proud to stock in East Lothian.
Roquefort is the original — a PDO-protected ewes' milk blue from the caves of Combalou in the south of France. Moist, crumbly, and intensely flavoured with a characteristic salty-sharp finish. One of the world's great cheeses.
Cashel Blue is Ireland's most celebrated blue — made by the Grubb family in County Tipperary. Creamier and milder than many blues, with a gentle tang. A wonderful entry point for the blue-curious.
Gorgonzola is Italy's great blue — PDO-protected and made from full-fat pasteurised cows' milk in Lombardy. Rich, creamy, and complex.
Montagnolo is a German triple-cream blue — rich and buttery from the cream content, with a gentle blue character. One of the most approachable blues we stock, and exceptional with honey.
Cambozola combines the creaminess of a Camembert-style rind with a mild blue interior. Mild, melty, and universally liked.
Blue Murder is a Scottish washed-rind blue made at Highland Fine Cheeses in Tain. The washed rind gives it a pungent character, with a creamy, bold paste. Daring and delicious.
Strathdon Blue is also from Highland Fine Cheeses — a crumbly, cave-aged blue with robust, earthy flavour and real intensity. Distinctly Scottish in spirit.
The Hard & Alpine Cheeses
The great mountain cheeses of France and Switzerland, plus some outstanding hard British and European examples — all available to buy at our counter in East Linton.
Comté is one of France's finest — a raw cows' milk cheese made in the Jura mountains and aged for months or years in vast caves. The longer it ages, the more complex it becomes: floral, nutty, with a sweetness that can border on caramel.
Gruyère is the Swiss master of the melt — used in everything from fondue to French onion soup, but equally worthy of a cheese board. Sweet, nutty, and subtly fruity with a firm, dense paste.
Morbier is recognisable by the distinctive line of vegetable ash running through its centre — originally a practical solution, now a mark of identity. Semi-soft and supple, with a fruity, slightly nutty character.
Raclette is the classic Swiss melting cheese — scrape it melted over potatoes with cornichons and pickled onions and you have one of the great communal meals. As a table cheese it's mild, buttery, and pleasantly pungent.
Parmigiano-Reggiano — the real thing. Full DOP status, made in Emilia-Romagna, aged a minimum of 12 months. Granular, intensely savoury, and irreplaceable.
Tomme de Savoie is a semi-firm Alpine classic from the French Alps — lower in fat but richly flavoured with earthy, grassy, mildly nutty notes and a beautiful grey-brown rind.
Ossau-Iraty is a PDO ewes' milk cheese from the Basque country — semi-firm, smooth-textured, with a gentle nuttiness and a long, clean finish. Excellent with a drizzle of honey or black cherry jam.
Manchego Miguel is a Spanish PDO ewes' milk cheese from La Mancha — firm, slightly oily, with a buttery richness and a pleasantly sharp finish. The herringbone rind pattern is its unmistakable signature.
Prima Donna is a Dutch-style aged cheese with a character somewhere between Gouda and Parmesan — fruity, nutty, and deeply savoury with a firm, slightly crystalline texture at full maturity.
Old Amsterdam is a premium aged Gouda from the Netherlands, matured for at least 18 months. The extended ageing gives it an intense, caramel-like sweetness, natural crunchy crystals, and a rich, complex depth.
Shepherds Store is a hard ewes' milk cheese — firm, slightly granular, and packed with the characteristic sweetness and depth of good sheep's milk.
The Fresh & Scottish Cheeses
Scotland has a proud and long cheese heritage, and our counter in East Lothian gives it the platform it deserves.
Anster is made by Jane Stewart at St Andrews Farmhouse Cheese Co. in the East Neuk of Fife, from raw milk produced by her own Holstein Friesian herd — cows that graze fields overlooking the Firth of Forth. Named after Anstruther, the nearby fishing village, this delicate, crumbly, Cheshire-style cheese has a fresh milky flavour with a lively citrus tang and a clean acidic finish. It was named Best Scottish Cheese at the British & Irish Cheese Awards 2025. One of Scotland's true originals, and one of our proudest stockists in East Lothian.
Black Crowdie is a traditional Scottish fresh cheese — Crowdie is one of Scotland's oldest dairy traditions, a lactic fresh cheese with a clean, slightly sour character. The black version is rolled in oatmeal and black pepper for a pleasingly earthy, rustic finish.
The Wensleydales
Two versions of Yorkshire's beloved fresh, crumbly classic.
Wensleydale is the original: moist, mild, and faintly honeyed. Made in the Yorkshire Dales, it's the cheese Wallace has always been right about.
Wensleydale Yoredale is the farmhouse, more complex version — made using traditional methods for a more pronounced, tangy character. Worth seeking out if you love the style.
Something Different
A handful of cheeses that resist easy categorisation — each one worth exploring at our East Linton counter.
Cornish Yarg is wrapped in nettle leaves that create a beautiful grey-green rind and contribute a mild earthiness to the fresh, slightly crumbly paste beneath. Made in Cornwall, it's as visually striking as it is delicious.
Garlic Yarg follows the same tradition but with wild garlic leaves in place of nettles — a softer, more aromatic variation.
Smoked Apple Smoke Kintyre is a Scottish smoked cheese from the Kintyre peninsula, cold-smoked over apple wood for a delicate, sweet smoke that enhances rather than overwhelms.
How to Get the Best From Our Counter
Ask us. Every cheese on this counter has been chosen with care. If you're not sure, tell us what you like and we'll cut you a taste.
Serve at room temperature. Take cheese out of the fridge 30–60 minutes before eating. Cold kills flavour.
Build a board with contrast. Aim for one hard cheese, one soft, one blue, and one wildcard. Mix origins — some Scottish, some European.
Don't overthink pairings. Honey, oatcakes, good chutney, and something to drink. That's all you need.
Our cheese counter changes with the seasons and with availability. If you're looking for something specific or want to plan a board for an occasion, give us a call or pop in and we'll cut to order.
Farm Shop At The Mart — East Linton, East Lothian
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I buy cut cheese in East Lothian? Farm Shop At The Mart in East Linton stocks one of the largest cut cheese counters in East Lothian, with over 55 cheeses available fresh to order — including Scottish artisan cheeses, British farmhouse varieties, and European classics.
Do you cut cheese to order? Yes. All of our cheeses are cut fresh to order at our East Linton counter. Tell us how much you'd like and we'll cut it on the spot.
Do you stock Scottish cheeses? We stock a wide range of Scottish cheeses including Anster (Fife), Lanark Blue (Lanarkshire), Isle of Mull Cheddar, Smoked Lammermuir (East Lothian), Clava Brie, Black Crowdie, Blue Murder, Strathdon Blue, Bonnet, and Inverloch Goats, among others.
Can I get advice on building a cheese board? Absolutely. Our team is happy to help you put together a board for any occasion — whether it's a dinner party, a wedding, or a quiet night in. Come in and speak to us, or call ahead if you're planning something specific.
What is the best cheese shop in East Lothian? We'll let our counter speak for itself — but with over 55 cut cheeses, a strong Scottish selection, and a team that genuinely loves what they stock, we think Farm Shop At The Mart in East Linton is worth the trip.
Do you stock Anster cheese? Yes — Anster from St Andrews Farmhouse Cheese Co. is one of our signature Scottish cheeses. It was named Best Scottish Cheese at the British & Irish Cheese Awards 2025 and is available to buy cut to order at our East Linton counter.
What French cheeses do you stock? Our French selection includes Brie Dongé, Époisses, Brillat-Savarin, Comté, Morbier, Tomme de Savoie, Ossau-Iraty, Roquefort, and Chèvrerousse d'Argental, among others.
Do you have blue cheese in East Lothian? Yes — our blue cheese selection includes Stilton, Roquefort, Lanark Blue, Cashel Blue, Gorgonzola, Strathdon Blue, Blue Murder, Cambozola, Montagnolo, and Shropshire Blue. One of the most comprehensive blue selections in the East Lothian.
