I found a block of ten year old Cabot cheddar cheese at the supermarket the other day. I’m impressed at how good it is. It’s sour and a little crumbly and has a nice cheddar punch. It makes my eyes water just a little.
Not bad for a supermarket cheese. 
Cabot makes some very nice cheddars, for sure. I’ll watch for 10 year old, haven’t seen that. I’m quite fond of their habanero cheddars and extra sharps.
Hmm. This cheesy thread has been here for two hours and @Qadgop_the_Mercotan has not shown up yet?
I greatly respect the Vermont cheddars and am sure a 10 year old specimen is truly delicious.
I’ve currently been enjoying some aged goat cheddar, some sheep gouda, and some nice gjetost (mixed goat/cow milk).
If you like the Cabot 10 and have Costco available, I can’t recommend their Coastal English Cheddar enough. Lots of crystals, superb flavor, affordable.
I’ve been enjoying 10 year old cheddar lately myself. It seems like around here 10 years is about as old as I can find, but I’ve been seeing ads online for 17 yo cheddar.
Is there a ‘diminishing return’ point of tastiness for aged cheddar, Qadgop? I know you’ve had cheddar 30 years old or even older.
That’s hard to say, so much depends on each individual sample of an elder cheddar. I’ve had a couple of 20 year old specimens which weren’t much to brag about, in fact they tasted rather bitter. Yet others in the 20 to 30 year range have been truly sublime. And it’s not like there’s a great quantity of those older cheeses out there to really compare them adequately. And when you find some, it’s often sold under the generic label of “proudly cheese Wisconsin” so you don’t know who produced it in the first place, other than some Wisconsin dairy co-op.
Now if you can get your hands on some specific cheeesemakers’ elder samples, such as Hooks (20 yr old rather pricey at over $200/lb) or Pasture Pride ($100/lb for 25 year old), then I think the odds are better of getting the best of the ancient curds.
Summary: It’s a crapshoot but if you get lucky, it’s an amazing treat. Make sure to serve it at room temperature, on its own or with a bland cracker for full appreciation of the flavor.
I really like the Cabot horseradish cheddar. I lived in the Granite State for a while and every supermarket carried it along with all the other utilitarian cheeses. Back out west, horseradish cheese of any kind is a rare find even among the specialty varieties.
I’m in L.A., and I know I’ve bought a horseradish cheese at our local market. It’s been a while, so I don’t remember now what specific brand/cheese variety it was. I liked it a lot. I’ll have to look for it.
Seconded. At roughly $6 US a pound, it’s the best bang for buck cheddar I can find locally. My wife is nigh-addicted to the stuff. Yes, I’ve found better elsewhere, but between the base cost and/or shipping, I’m spending a lot for comparatively minor gains.
My own cheapness means I’ll probably never experience the joy of true-cheesehead-bliss like @Qadgop_the_Mercotan, whom I’ll just have to envy.
I am not a Costco member, but i have friends who are. Perhaps I’ll ask someone to buy me a block.
I bought a 15 year old cheddar some years ago at a cheese maker in Wisconsin. It was pretty spectacular. We used to get some very nice cheeses at Face Rock Creamery on the Oregon Coast.
Thanks for the advice, Qadgop!
I hardly have the patience to wait for it to come to room temp, but I’ll try…
My Giant Eagle has some pretty nice store cheese, enough different kinds of cheeses to remind me of the “cheese shop” sketch from Monty Python. But I’ve been getting Old Croc extra sharp cheddar, aged anywhere from 18 months to 5 years. It’s pretty tasty, and taking it out of the fridge a couple hours early to let it reach room temperature is a must. It’s still good if eaten cold, but it reaches food transcendence at room temperature!
As a representative of the other notable US Cheddar state and home of Cabot, I definitely agree that their aged varieties are pretty excellent.
I don’t know if it’s my aging palate or an actual change in product, but I do think that their younger cheeses are not as sharp or hard/crumbly as they used to be. But, at a cost parity with almost any other cheddar I see in the stores here, it’s a no-brainer to buy their cheese. The “premium” 10 year is a nice treat for sure.
We’ve got one local producer who has really made an impact on the cheese landscape nationally, Jasper Hill Farm. They have lots of amazing cheeses, including a cheddar they do in collaboration with Cabot, “Cabot clothbound”… definitely worth it if you have a distributor near you. Not nearly as old, but with some really rich, nutty sweetness that is full of flavor.
A turning point of happiness in my life is when I realized that cheese really needs to be room temperature to truly experience it.
I’ve noticed this about Cabot too. Inspired by this thread, I snagged some Cabot Cheddar labeled “seriously sharp” (the store lacked older versions of Cabot) only to find it pretty damn medium. Researching it further, I found it was only aged about 14 months or so. It’s just a baby! I went on to find their ‘extra sharp’ is only 12 months old. Hokey smokes, folks!
I haven’t seen Cabot in Canadian Costco but will keep an eye out. Canadian Costco is all about Baldersons, an Ontario outfit that makes a damn fine cheddar. Are they known at all in the South?
They do sell stuff labeled as 3 year, etc. But it’s not as widely available as the “seriously sharp”. They used to have a product packaged in black wax that was older, but they’ve replaced it with other things.
I like their “seriously sharp” cheddar, but it doesn’t have the complexity of an older cheese.
I haven’t heard of it, but I’ll keep an eye out. If i visit Toronto (which i do from time to time) what sort of place sells it. (I’ll likely have limited time and no car, so I’m not driving around to Costco or anything.)
You can find Balderson’s in just about any supermarket. In my experience, it’s usually in the deli department. I can find it at my local supermarket out here in Alberta.
Another great Ontario cheese is Ivanhoe. It seems to be Ontario only, since I’ve never seen it out here. But I know that it is available in Toronto (or at least it was when I lived there); from the deli departments of supermarkets.