Juls Stodel, MBA Trustee and graduate of Leiths School of Food and Wine (2012), shares food for thought with one reader looking to elevate their bothy experience in TGO’s advice column, supported by Highlander Outdoor. Every month, one reader who writes to Juls with an Uphill Struggle will win an £100 voucher to spend with Highlander.
Dear Juls,
I’m looking to elevate my bothy experience and overnight in style. I’m hoping I can make a cheese board at the Bothy work. Is there anything you can recommend? Wine pairings encouraged!Kris, February 2026
Dear Kris,
There are few things more memorable than a boujie bothy night. I’ve had nights where companions have brought in everything from a family sized tiramisu to their leopard print sofa cushions because where there is a will there is definitely a way. And there is always will and way for cheese.
A traditional cheese board usually incorporates a soft, hard and blue cheese. Straight off the bat Highland Fine Cheeses presents a tantalising trio. Their Fat Cow hard cheese is delicate and nutty, while Blue Murder delivers an earthy creaminess with the richness of a dessert. I
first tried Blue Murder in a bothy as a matter of fact – gifted to me on a slate platter by Lindsay, the controversial but hospitable hermit of Ruighe Aiteachan. For their soft cheese you have two excellent choices – either a comfortingly predictable Morangie Brie or the far more ripe and feisty Minger mocking its continental counterparts with its Celtic attitude. A gooey and pungent MacRoblochon if you will.
If your bothy is in Wales, then you can’t overlook a Caerphilly. Caws Teifi crack out a tidy cold smoked version of the Welsh classic, giggling with oakiness. Caws Cenarth’s award winning Golden Cenarth with its cider washed rind makes an excellent soft addition to your board and their Perl Las is a superbly saline blue for this who prefer their fromage more seaside than farmyard.
For the vegans, Honestly Tasty’s Blue is made with Penicillium Roqueforti much like a conventional blue and is so convincing your meat-eating friends will be stunned. The same company also make Shamembert infused with truffle for a bit of decadence. Perfect wrapped in foil and melted over a bothy fire and then attacked with hunks of bread.
I do try to find local cheeses on my travels, one of my favourites being the heavily veined Barlocco Blue from the Ethical Dairy named after a local tidal island. I, of course, then went on to eat Barlocco cheese on Barlocco island because novelty is whatever you make of it. I also missed a ferry in Orkney and ended up in my tent with £20 of Burnside Cheeses from Westray and it might have been my favourite impulse buy yet.
As for a pairing, fortified wines are the quintessential liquid accompaniment to cheese. Port of Leith Tawny Port brings a complex fruitiness without being overpowering for your more delicate cheeses. But if we’re talking about customs let’s not get too far away from the situation at hand here – it’s a bothy. That means whisky will always be a tried-and-true staple. Timorous Beastie Single Malt is my current favourite, but Ardbeg’s Uigeadail has only recently been usurped. The more traditional amongst you may prefer Laphroaig but I fall face down in enough bog – I don’t need to pay for the privilege of drinking it from a bottle.
Lastly, Buckfast may not be so boujie, but no one can deny that it is traditional, and that is a hill I am willing to die on.
Every month, one reader who writes to Juls with an Uphill Struggle will win an £100 voucher to spend with Highlander Outdoor.
