Hook's 15 Year Aged Cheddar comes out of Mineral Point, Wisconsin, where Tony and Julie Hook have been making cheese since 1976 and aging the long-program cheddars that put them on the map. This is a pasteurized cow's milk cheddar held back for fifteen years, which is about as far as anyone in the country takes the recipe. After that much time the paste has gone dense and hard, breaking in sharp flakes under the knife with a real crunch from tyrosine and calcium lactate crystals running all the way through. The flavor leads with a big sharp tang, then pulls into toasted nut, brown butter, and a savory, almost roasted depth. The finish is long and salty with that slow crystalline crunch fading out well past the swallow. This is one of the most popular cheddars in the shop for a reason. Fifteen years is a serious commitment from a cheesemaker, and you taste every one of them.
