In the world of cheese, there are a handful of distinct varieties: fresh cheeses, like Boursin; aged cheeses, like Parmigiano-Reggiano; bloomy-rind cheeses like Brie; and finally, the washed-rind cheeses. These complex beauties are usually stinky, creamy, luscious, a little bit funky… in other words, all the things we look for in cheese.
Washed-rind cheeses come in many varieties; some are creamy and others are quite hard, some are sold whole in round wooden containers and others come in blocks. Some washed-rind cheeses are rubbed with a simple brine, but others are actually bathed in booze. Here are five booze-washed cheeses that you should definitely, definitely seek out.
1. Époisses
![b5a2df2a-](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2018/09/1200/675/ewrwrer4534545.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
(iStock)
This legendary (and legendarily stinky) cheese is washed in a brine that’s been infused with a local brandy, Marc de Bourgogne. Sold in a little wooden box, it should be left out for a couple hours before eating in order for it to come to room temperature. It’s so luscious that it can (and should) be eaten with a spoon.
2. Chimay
![b3ac499e-](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2018/09/1200/675/erewrer54345435.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
(Chimay)
You may know Chimay only as a producer of beer, but they actually sell a variety of cheeses that have been washed with that beer, too, and they’re good. That’s right: they went there.
3. Stinking Bishop
![08c90c22-](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2018/09/1200/675/erewrewr5435345.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
(Charles Martell & Son Ltd.)
This creamy, light orange cheese is washed in a pear brandy. The name of the variety of pear that the brandy is made with? Stinking bishop.
4. Capriole Dairy’s O’Banon
![f7d63e29-](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2018/09/1200/675/erewewewrllllliiiiidf.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
(Capriole Goat Cheese)
To make this cheese, fresh goat cheese is wrapped in chestnut leaves and washed — nay, soaked — in bourbon. The bourbon gives it a rich, woody flavor that doesn’t at all overpower the goat cheese.
See more boozy cheeses to add to your next cheese plate.
More from The Daily Meal
Hooked On Cheese: Capriole Dairy’s O’Banon
Hooked On Cheese: An Interview with Artisanal’s Max McCalman