This is Sottocenere, a cow's milk cheese from the Veneto in northern Italy, studded with shavings of black truffle and aged under a coating of ash blended with nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, fennel, and licorice. The name itself means 'under ash', and that ash rind is the whole idea, it seasons the paste as the cheese rests, layering warm spice on top of the truffle perfume already running through the wheel. The paste is semi-hard and supple, a pale ivory color with little dark flecks of truffle worked all the way through. It slices clean and has just enough give to feel buttery on the palate. The flavor leads with truffle, deeply earthy, almost forest-floor, riding on a mellow cow's milk base, and then the spiced rind pulls in a second aromatic layer on the finish that holds for a long time after the swallow. This is one of the more aromatic truffle cheeses we carry, and the spice rind is what sets it apart. The truffle is real, not flavored oil, and the perfume is the kind that fills the room as soon as you cut into it.
