Neal’s Yard Dairy in London is regarded as one of the world’s best cheese shops, so it’s no surprise that bayleaf, 2017 Best of Whidbey Cheese Shop, would have Neal’s Yard Cheese in stock.

Neal’s Yard Dairy opened its doors in 1979 in an era when cheap and easy, mass-produced, processed, pre-packaged foods were quickly taking over the world markets. Their mission was to preserve the traditional British cheesemaking culture by forming lasting relationships with the best farmhouse cheesemakers from England and Ireland. Their goal was twofold - buy exceptional cheeses for their shop and foster the last few farms still producing cheeses with age-old care and proper methodology.

The cheeses are meticulously selected from forty regional cheesemakers and matured in Neal’s Yard temperature and humidity controlled facility in London, providing a set standard for maturation and preparation as well as for food safety as many of the cheeses are made using raw milk. Buyers from Neal’s Yard regularly visit each of the farms throughout the year to monitor the cheesemaking process and scrutinize each cheese for flavor, texture, color, and overall quality.

Neal’s Yard is as meticulous in deciding who can properly sell the cheeses as they are in the selection and care of each, so we at bayleaf were thrilled to be able to bring these preeminent selections to Whidbey Island. For a limited time, stop by and get a wedge of Appleby’s Cheshire - the traditional cheese used in Welsh Rarebit, Lancashire - the last farmhouse raw-milk Lancashire produced in the world, and Colston Bassett Stilton - one of the last properly made Stiltons anywhere.

Beth Kuchynka and Susan Wenzel contributed to this article.