For the second time, a team of expert judges has voted Michael Spycher’s Gruyère the World Champion Cheese. It’s a head-spinning achievement given the size of the field: 3,667 entries from around the world. If you think of Gruyère as an ordinary sandwich cheese sold in every supermarket—well, this ain’t that.

To understand Spycher’s “special sauce,” I spoke to Joe Salonia, the U.S. sales rep for Gourmino, the Swiss company that ages and markets Spycher’s cheeses and others. He has visited the creamery a couple of times. “I didn’t think it would be possible,” he told me about the Gruyère’s repeat win. “It’s the Tom Hanks of cheese now.”

World Champion Cheese is a biannual competition held in Madison, Wisconsin. This year’s record number of entries came from 26 countries, including Croatia, Brazil and Japan.

What distinguishes this contest is that the 62 judges are, with few exceptions, technical experts—dairy-science professors, professional cheese graders and quality-control specialists who spend their workdays tasting cheese for defects. Other major competitions typically include judges who are cheesemongers, distributors and others on the selling end of the business. These folks tend to focus more on aesthetic features and less on the flaws—like a soft spot or slits in the interior—that consumers don’t notice.

Here are the top three finishers and note the closeness:

Gourmino Le Gruyère AOP (score: 98.81)
Gallus Grand Cru from Hardegger Käse (score: 98.70)
Lutjewiinkel Noord Hollandse Gouda PDO (score: 98.66)

Spycher gets his milk from a dozen dairy farms, all within four kilometers of the creamery. He makes the cheese just like every other Gruyère producer, following the procedures required by the AOP (appellation law). Still, his cheese is different, Salonia believes, citing notes of consommé, sautéed leeks and vanilla. “It’s assertive but balanced,” says the sales rep, “with so many notes playing at once.” Many factors could separate his cheese from the pack: the microflora on the dairy farms or in his caves; his handling techniques in the cellar; or his skill in selecting the perfect wheel to submit.

As a media guest, I had the opportunity to taste the final round alongside the judges. My own notes describe the Gruyère’s aroma as “brothy; roasted onion,” echoing Salonia’s. “This is a star,” I wrote. Not everyone agreed. I spoke to one judge post-results who thought the Gruyère was too grainy. Although judges taste blind, you can’t mistake a Gruyère; the name is on the rind.

Spycher has been making cheese since he was 15; he’s now 53. He also produces the fabulous Hornbacher. The 80-pound wheels of Gruyère spend their first four months in his cellar, then move to Gourmino’s mountain bunker where affinage experts tend it for the next few months. The winning wheel was 13 months old and Spycher, not Gourmino, selected it.

Salonia compares Spycher’s Gruyère to that racehorse that hangs back until the last stretch. “It takes off at the 10-month mark,” he says, “and starts getting its own flavor profile.” For retail sources, click here.

Want to taste this two-time world champion? Join me on Wednesday, April 15, in Napa, for a cheese class devoted to some of the world’s finest raw-milk cheeses, including Michael Spycher’s Gruyère.