There is a side of Menorca you discover by looking out to sea, and another that begins the moment you turn your back on it. Among country lanes, dry-stone walls and fields where the cows are grazing lie the llocs, the farms that keep alive one of the products that best express the island’s identity: Mahón-Menorca cheese.
Discovering this other Menorca does not require a complicated itinerary. Simply leave the main roads for a few hours, step inside one of its farms and taste the cheese where it is made. Because behind every wedge of artisanal Mahón-Menorca cheese there is much more than milk and ageing time: there are landscapes, farming families and a way of working the land that has helped shape the island’s interior.
In our article on what to eat in Menorca, we explored some of its most characteristic flavours. This time, we suggest going straight to their source.
What is a lloc?
In Menorca, a lloc is a traditional farm, generally made up of cultivated land, pasture and a group of rural buildings. Many are still working today, and some welcome visitors to show them how farming works and how their products are made.
Getting there is part of the experience. Secondary roads cross a patchwork of fields marked out by kilometres of dry-stone walls, built by carefully fitting stones together without mortar. These characteristic constructions are not merely a picturesque feature: historically they have divided plots, protected crops and livestock, and helped organise farmland.
This cultural landscape helps explain why cheese is not an isolated part of Menorcan cuisine. It forms part of a complete rural system: pasture feeds the cattle, cows produce the milk and, on many farms, the cheese is still made on site.
That is reason enough to devote at least half a day of a Menorca trip to exploring the island’s interior.
From milking to the fogasser: how artisanal Mahón-Menorca cheese is made
Traditional cheesemaking has a vocabulary all of its own. Artisanal Mahón-Menorca cheese is made with raw milk from the farm’s own herd. Once the milk has curdled, the curd is placed in a fogasser, a cotton cloth used to drain the whey and give the cheese its distinctive square shape with rounded corners. The cloth is tied with a cord called a lligam. After pressing and brining, the cheeses begin to mature.
In the ageing cellars (known as cavas), the artisanal cheeses are turned regularly and the rind is traditionally treated with olive oil or a mixture of oil and paprika, giving it those distinctive orange and brown hues.
There is also an important distinction worth noting when buying cheese on the island. The Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) differentiates between Mahón-Menorca and Mahón-Menorca Artesano: the latter must be made with raw milk from the farm itself, using the traditional fogasser method.
The best way to understand the difference is to actually visit a farm and see the process up close.
Mild, semi-cured or mature: a matter of time
A tasting of different ages shows just how much a few months can transform the same product.
Mild cheese, matured for at least 21 days, is smooth and springy with milky aromas, hints of butter and a slight acidity. Semi-cured cheese, aged for at least 60 days, develops a firmer texture and more pronounced flavours. Mature cheese, aged for at least 150 days, becomes harder and crumblier, with complex aromas and an intense, lingering taste. Some cheesemakers age their cheeses even longer, producing extra-mature cheeses that particularly appeal to anyone looking for more concentrated flavours.
A tip: if you have the chance, try several ages one after another. It is probably the easiest way to discover which kind of Mahón-Menorca you prefer, and to appreciate the work that continues in the cellar long after each cheese has been made.
Three farms where you can discover the cheese and rural Menorca
Subaida: a first introduction to the world of cheese
If you are looking for a complete experience that is easy to organise, Subaida, in the municipality of Alaior, is an excellent starting point. The estate covers around 350 hectares and continues to make PDO Mahón-Menorca cheese using artisanal methods. Visits offer a chance to meet the animals, explore the cowshed and milking parlour, and learn how milk becomes cheese. Depending on the experience you choose, the tour may finish with a tasting of cheeses at different stages of maturity, as well as other farm products.
It is also an especially appealing option if you are visiting Menorca with children. Some activities allow visitors to get close to calves and other animals, and even learn how to make cheese, turning a food-focused visit into a hands-on introduction to farm life.
Afterwards, you can continue to Alaior, whose historic centre rises on a hill among narrow streets and whitewashed houses. You will find more ideas for completing your visit in our guide to Menorca’s prettiest and most peaceful villages.
Binillubet: become a cheesemaker for a few hours
In the centre of the island, near the road linking Mahón and Ciutadella, Binillubet offers you another way to discover Mahón-Menorca cheese. The family makes the cheese on the farm itself using milk from its own cows and organises experiences that introduce visitors to the artisanal process. One activity even lets you make a cheese with your own hands, as well as visit the farm and finish with a tasting. In its shop you can sample and buy cheeses at different stages of maturity — including semi-cured, mature and extra-mature — alongside a selection of locally produced foods.
Thanks to its location, Binillubet fits perfectly into a day exploring central Menorca. Combine your visit with Es Mercadal, stroll through its streets and browse the small shops, then continue to Ferreries, a town associated with another of the island’s great craft traditions: leatherworking and the making of the famous Menorcan sandals, known as abarcas.
Son Piris: a family farm near Ciutadella
For a more intimate experience, look towards the west of the island. Son Piris, south of Ciutadella, is a small family-run farm that produces artisanal Mahón-Menorca cheese using milk from its own cattle.
As well as selling cheese directly from the farm, it offers a wonderfully simple and authentic experience by prior reservation: a traditional country breakfast under the porch. Cheeses at different stages of maturity, cured meats, bread, homemade jams and traditional pastries make this a chance to discover Menorca’s larder without separating its produce from the place where it is made.
Ciutadella is only a short distance away, so it is easy to end the day strolling around its historic centre and harbour.
A route that is also great for children
Visiting a lloc can be one of the simplest and most rewarding family activities on a trip to Menorca. For children, ideas such as local produce, farming and artisanal production become more tangible when they can see a cow, enter a milking parlour, watch cheese being pressed or discover that a cheese needs months of care before it reaches the table.
It is definitely worth booking ahead and checking opening times directly with each farm, particularly if you are travelling outside the summer months. Many visits take place at set times or by reservation, and availability can vary with the season and the day-to-day work of the farm.
Autumn, in fact, can be a wonderful time for this kind of experience. Menorca returns to a much gentler pace, and its interior takes centre stage over the coast. Our guide to Menorca in the low season offers more ideas for exploring the island away from the busiest months.
What to bring home from a lloc: much more than cheese
Buying directly from the producer is one of the best parts of this route. It allows you to ask who made the product, compare different ages and choose a cheese to suit your tastes, while also discovering flavours you might overlook in an ordinary shop. Depending on the farm, you may find sobrasada, carn i xulla sausage, jams, honey, sweets, Menorcan wine or other local products alongside the cheese. Together they can make a wonderful little food hamper from the island.
Buying at source is also a direct way to support the farms that keep Menorca’s countryside alive. This matters particularly on an island whose landscape also depends on farming and livestock rearing continuing. This connection between the land, local produce and conservation is part of another way of travelling that we explored in our article on sustainable Menorca.
