"The Game III" Washed Cheese

Post by Stefan of Tokyo Whisky Hub.

Sometimes, it's amazing how information moves in mysterious ways. What am I on about? Bear with me... Some of you may remember we wrote a post about a wonderful bar up in Hokkaido called "Gyu+" (also known as "The Fridge Door Bar"). Ioanna - who runs the bar with her husband, Hisashi - was in Tokyo for the weekend, so we had arranged to meet up first thing after she'd landed. Among the many omiyage she had brought, was a "Bourbon"-washed cheese, made in Hokkaido. Obviously the bourbon isn't made there (it's I.W. Harper, I was told), but the cheese is. It's a camembert-type cheese "washed" in bourbon. (If you don't know what that means, Google's your friend!) I dropped Ioanna off at Shinanoya in Shinjuku, but not before advising her to get some "The Game III" for her bar, which she did - just in time, because as of today it's officially sold-out. This morning, I get a lovely email telling me how the staff at Shinanoya were really helpful. She also wrote that they'd told her they would be releasing a cheese "washed in The Game III". Surely, the same company -Tokachino Fromages - couldn't be involved? (That's a rhetorical question - in case you were wondering.) She asked, and although the staff couldn't be sure, they thought it was the same company up in Hokkaido. (On further inspection, the box is exactly the same, so it probably is.)

I was kind of enjoying the coincidental serendipity of the whole situation, when I did something I shouldn't have done: I checked my email. In my in-box was a link to an electronic flyer announcing the release of ... "The Game III"-washed cheese. Anyway, it'll be out soon, so keep your eyes peeled. I tried a bit of the "bourbon"-washed cheese Ioanna had given me, and was surprised that - although the process starts with a camembert-type cheese, the result is completely different - closer to a Gorgonzola Dolce, and with a definite influence from the bourbon. I only tried a little bit, because the makers feel it gets better and better as it gets closer to its "eat-by" date, which is still three weeks away. It'll also be interesting to try it side-by-side with "The Game"-washed cheese, and both of the cheeses with the whiskies they were washed in... (or is that: washed with?) And so now, I have one more reason to look forward to New Year's Eve - which happens to be my birthday - as that's what I'm planning on having before or after dessert (depending on whether the company I'll be in prefer to do it the French or the English way): some cheese and whisky.