The oldest cheese you've ever eaten

[Fat Guy]

I'm not going to win this one, but it's not about winning. It's about old cheese. But don't bother if you can't beat 3 years. That would just be undignified. I'll start: 4-year aged Gouda aka Boerenkaas.

[Marlene]

Aha. 5 year old Balderson. And occasionally 7 year old Balderson when you can get it. Only in Canada though. pity.

Balderson cheese

[Ling]

5 year cheddar...yum! They also sell 7 year, 8 year, and 12 year old raw milk cheddar at the cheese shop I frequent.

I bought the 7 year old cheddar last week. It's good.

Edited January 5, 2005 by Ling (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

I have tasted a four year Grafton Cheddar which was marvelous!

cheese of the month club Grafton Cheddar

[Fat Guy]

5 year cheddar...yum! They also sell 7 year, 8 year, and 12 year old raw milk cheddar at the cheese shop I frequent.

I bought the 7 year old cheddar last week. It's good.

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Have you tasted the 8 or the 12? Tell all.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Come to think of it, Fat Guy, if older is indeed better, then I am the best! Forget the Botox! Let me age in some dark, damp cave du fromage ....

Is older better? Really? Why? Properties?

[docsconz]

The oldest cheese that I have eaten (that I know of) is 10y/o cheddar from Ontario. It is sublime. What makes it so? I have no idea.

[Jason Perlow]

I've had 8 year old cheddar. Oh man, is it awesome.

[Mark Sommelier]

I had a Stilton at the Four Seasons Hotel in DC that had been aged in their cheese cellar for 15 years. It was beyond extraordinary.

[davidthomas8779]

Sorry for being a pest, but sublime and awesome aren't descriptors that tell me why old cheese is better. Based on the who are posting the descriptions, I'm likely to go buy some old cheese, but most of you are people who can spend 3 paragraphs describing why french fries at McDonald's #32 are better than those at McDonald's #57 down the street.

[paul o' vendange]

Starving (literally) student at Trinity Rep Conservatory, 1990. Eating coffee over cereal to stay alive. One fine day, make $10 an hour helping the company move its stage props from floor 1 to floor 2.

Discover 6 year old wheel of cheddar cheese. Live on that cheese, almost solely, for close to 2 months. Well, myself and my ex-girlfriend's cat, who eventually tired of the single-course degustation and decided for odds on the street.

[Jinmyo]

Twelve year old cheddar.

David, older is better because the flavours and textures are both heightened and yet subtler, with a greater depth. The cheeses become more of what they are.

[phaelon56]

We have a local vendor, Buttercup Dairy (Sodus NY or thereabouts), who buys in bulk from Cuba Cheese (Southern Tier of NY state) and does their own aging. They have a fantastic 5X five year aged cheddar but their 7X doesn't seem to taste noticeably different.

Doc - where in Ontario is the 10X from? My dad used to bring home "Medieval" cheddar from the Harrowsmith Cheese factory in Ontario (Rideau Lakes region) when he was fishing up there but I think the Harrowsmith outfit may be long gone. Their "Medieval" was amazing - sort of melted in your mouth with a tanginess that is unrivalled by any other cheese I've tried.

[docsconz]

It has been a little while since I've had it, Owen, so I'm not sure. I bought it in Montreal at the former Chaput.

Age alone does not make a great cheese. I can keep many a good cheese for a little while before it becomes a terrible cheese. Some cheeses do age better than others and only do so if aged properly.

[bobmac]

Five-year-old Grafton.

[Jinmyo]

I had a Stilton at the Four Seasons Hotel in DC that had been aged in their cheese cellar for 15 years. It was beyond extraordinary.

I keep thinking about this.

[andiesenji]

I have several whole wheels of cheeses in my cheese fridge (50-55 degrees F constant) that I am experimenting with extended aging.

I have taken core samples at long intervals to check if they are still good and if the aging is doing anything.

The oldest is an 8 kilo wheel of Bra Duro, an Italian cheese made from cow's milk. It was 2 years old when I bought it in April 1998, so it will be 9 years old in April this year.

I checked my notes on tasting it last April and noted the following:

Sample slightly crumbly, no change in color in center - deep beige, darker near the rind. Taste very tangy, flavor of walnuts with a hint of butter, perhaps sharper than last tasting.

Grated remaining sample to within 1/4 inch of rind.

Excellent flavor, better than the 3-year Parmigiano-Reggiano and much better than the 4-year Pecorino Toscano.

[FoodMan]

The oldest is an 8 kilo wheel of Bra Duro, an Italian cheese made from cow's milk. It was 2 years old when I bought it in April 1998, so it will be 9 years old in April this year.

Andi, my birthday is in April. A nice wedge of aged cheese will make a splendid present

Elie

[Jinmyo]

I had a Stilton at the Four Seasons Hotel in DC that had been aged in their cheese cellar for 15 years. It was beyond extraordinary.

I keep thinking about this.

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Still thinking about this.

[bleudauvergne]

Although not a decade old, a Cantal is just wonderful as it gets up on 2 years. It takes on a transformation of flavor that you can only describe as multi-dimensional, a lot goes on. It develops a mellower tone and a creaminess while at the same time blooming on a sharpness as it finishes that is really transporting. While you're somersaulting out into the meaning of sharpness, at the same time you have that solid volcanic mountain base holding you steady and reassuring you that yes, this is the best Cantal you've ever had.

[Pumpkin Lover]

9 year-old Wisconsin cheddar, eaten this past Christmas. Just one word: WHOA.

[saskanuck]

7-year-old Balderson cheddar. MMMMMmmmmm.

[Pan]

Who sells these really long-aged cheddars in New York? I'd love to try one. Does Murray's sell stuff like that?

[Fat Guy]

The closest I've come to a situation where I was able to compare samples of the same cheese at different ages was with some 1, 2 and 3 year Parmigiano Reggiano specimens from, I was told, the same producer (from those red cows, supposedly). Of course, you can never do a perfect comparison because the milk itself is either different in the case of a simultaneous tasting or, if it's the same milk, you have to taste the cheese at 1 year intervals.

The most noticeable thing was loss of moisture. The 1 year specimen was very cheese-like and waxy, whereas the older specimens were progressively more crumbly. Loss of moisture, on its own, leads to concentration of flavor in all sorts of food products, and as far as I can tell it's no different in cheese. I think one would probably call this concentration of flavor "sharpness" in the context of hard cheeses. Of course texture also changes as the cheese becomes more crumbly and brittle with loss of moisture.

What else is going on in there? Well, there seems to be some molecular development or breakdown, because in addition to the expected concentration and drying, there were new flavors in the older cheeses. Not just stronger versions of the old flavors (some of which, like the grass and butter flavors, went away), but bona fide new flavors. There were almost wine- and Scotch-like aromatics involved, as well as a certain sweetness.

[cakewalk]

Four year old Grafton cheddar.

Now, I know goonisht mit goonisht about cheese. I grew up on pre-sliced, processed American, Muenster and Swiss cheeses, and that was the extent of it. A few years ago I decided to say goodbye to the "kosher cheese only" decision of yore, and I began to try other things. Not having the least idea where to begin, I just went for blocks of cheese that were packaged without being sliced, figuring it had to be better. It wasn't. I tried this, I tried that. It all seemed pretty much the same to me.

Then by chance I picked up an extra-sharp cheddar (I can't remember the name of the company, it's a commercial cheese but it's real cheese) and with the first taste I realized what people were talking about when they swooned over cheese. And this was aged only about six months, maybe nine.

A while later, also by chance, I picked up the Grafton four-year cheddar (at Fairway). I was unprepared for how much better it was than even the previous cheese I had tried.

So I don't know why aged cheeses are better, but they sure are. Now my only problem is trying to coordinate cheese and lipitor.