A semi-soft, cow's milk, disc-shaped cheese from Auvergne. The leathery, natural rind is pinkish, with a covering of pale grey mould. This cheese is cured on a bed of straw for eight weeks and seems to absorb some of its earthy, pastoral aroma. It has a smooth, reddish rind, ivory to straw coloured interior, soft and supple texture. It is an earthy cheese with a fruity flavour and a grassy aroma. One of the characteristic features of this cheese is its distinctive smell which could be described as the smell of a dark and humid cellar of rye straw on which it is ripened.