Cabot and McCadam combined for a dozen ribbons - including four 1st-place ribbons - at the 24th annual American Cheese Society Conference and Competition held in Burlington over the past week. This year's contest established itself as the largest U.S. cheese competition ever and featured 1,208 product entries from 200 producers representing 30 different U.S. states plus 3 Canadian provinces.

Recall that last year's competition resulted in Cabot winning its first ACS "Best of Show" honor ever, so topping this was no small feat. Although we were unable to become the first cheesemaker in history to win back-to-back "Best of Show" awards, we did handily eclipse our previous best showing in terms of total awards. This was the first time our ribbon count cleared double-digits, as we recorded four ribbons for each of 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishes.

This year's Cabot and McCadam results:

1st Place/Blue Ribbon (Mature Cheddar, 3-4 Years): Cabot 3 Year Old Cheddar
This product, made at Middlebury, topped two 4 year old Wisconsin cheddars (Widmers, Carr Valley) and a bandaged wrap Californian wheel (Fiscalini).

1st Place/Blue Ribbon (Cultured Milk Products, Creme Fraiche): Cabot Creme Fraiche
A repeat blue ribbon for Creme Fraiche came against a very strong field; Cabot has now won 1st place both years we have had a product to enter.

1st Place/Blue Ribbon (Salted Butter): Cabot Salted Butter
Cabot Salted Solids were a repeat winner. Cabot in particular and Vermont in general dominated the butter categories, winning six of the 7 ribbons awarded.

1st Place/Blue Ribbon (Unsalted Butter): Cabot Unsalted Butter
Not to be outdone, Cabot also repeated as blue-ribbon unsalted butter, although this year it was our Unsalted Solids that took top honors.

2nd Place/Red Ribbon (Aged Cheddar, 1-2 Years): Cabot Clothbound Cheddar

2nd Place/Red Ribbon (Cheddar, <1 Year): Cabot Select Cheddar

2nd Place/Red Ribbon (Fat Free/Low Fat Cheese): Cabot 75% Reduced Fat Cheddar

2nd Place/Red Ribbon (Salted Butter): Cabot Whey Cream Butter
Cabot took both 1st and 2nd - for the second year in-a-row - in this category.

3rd Place/White Ribbon (Cheddar, <1 Year): McCadam New York Sharp Cheddar

3rd Place/White Ribbon (Aged Cheddar, 1-2 Years): Cabot Private Stock Cheddar

3rd Place/White Ribbon (Mature Cheddar, 2-3 Years): Cabot Vintage Choice Cheddar

3rd Place/White Ribbon (Unsalted Butter): Cabot 83 Unsalted Butter

Vermont did a great job of putting its best face forward in our role of host this year. Cabot paced a very strong Vermont showing that featured ribbons by 18 different producers and a total of 41 ribbons - far exceeding our previous best of 28 awards.

Congratulations to all!