Any Irish person I've ever met has declared Kerrygold Salted Irish Butter to be the ultimate in perfection and pronounced everything else dreck. This review does not have a surprise ending because it is delicious and I value my limbs.
The Irish are great at butter. They are also resourceful, creative, the life of the party and completely no-nonsense, which is very much the nature of Kerrygold butter. How something so consistently good can be so ubiquitous is beyond me, yet here we are and I'm so excited about it.
For a company founded only in 1961, Kerrygold took a swift and firm hold on the market and is internationally known as THE Irish butter, particularly in Germany. They are a huge organisation and are in it to win it, proudly proclaiming EUR 1 billion in retail sales in 2019.
Regardless of its success, Kerrygold salted butter reminds you of farmhouse butter. This stuff is squidgy and best eaten in equal proportion to your serving carb, be it fresh bread or potatoes. Kerrygold is famous for using the milk of pastured (grass-fed) cows and the complexity comes through in the aroma and profile of their butter. Ireland's climate is perfect for pastures and, to our great benefit, they make the most of it.
Kerrygold Pure Irish Salted Butter Appreciation
Butter Break Down
Appreciation Date: 08/09/2020
Country of Origin: Ireland
Point of Procurement: Spinneys
Purchase State: Frozen
Milk: Pastured cow, pasteurised
Salt Content: 2%
Milk Fat Content: 80%
Ingredients: Fresh cows' milk, salt.
Declared Possible Allergens: Cow's milk
Company Website: https://kerrygold.com
Butter Evaluation
In which we discuss Kerrygold's Irish Salted butter.
This is beautiful butter. Since Kerrygold is a big enough company to handle it, their export butter here is almost always sold frozen which helps keep it as fresh as possible. This Spinneys had a frost problem in this particular freezer but Kerrygold is robust enough to handle a bit of faff.
It holds its shape well and has an integrity to it, which is impressive when it's so warm out here.
When you unwrap it, it smells of fresh cream and hay... and could it also be sunshine? Nah. Happiness. It's full-fat happiness. The best kind.
The salt is up-front on this one. Irish butter is traditionally heavily salted and this is very... traditional. It was sampled with a lot of unsalted butters so that will have impacted our perception of saltiness but it's still robust.
The children went absolutely bananas for this one. No surprises as to why!
Final Rundown
Kerrygold Irish Salted Butter is a beautiful, soft yellow lump of happiness. It's matte, solid and holds its shape well, even at 'only' 80% butterfat. When it's unwrapped, you get a whiff of dairy goodness but also hay and grass. On the palate, it's full butter with a light tang but nothing of the ferment of a cultured butter. It's hay and grassy notes compliment the salt and cream. This butter is deep and rich and clings to the palate without being greasy.
More please.
Colour: "Butter" yellow, matte, solid
Aroma: Dairy, hay
Taste: Salt, butter, comfort.
9/10
For Séamus, the newest Great Irish Addition and presumed butter-lover (TBC).