Sorry, $209 per Pound Wisconsin Cheddar Is All Sold Out

James Johonnott |

I'm hooked on good cheese.
I'm hooked on good cheese.

A reported by the Wisconsin State Journal, a block of cheese – heralded as a "milestone in cheesemaking" – made its debut last month at $209 a pound. Sound a bit cheesy? Tony and Julie Hook of the Hook Cheese Company in Mineral Point, Wis. aged the 450 pound block of cheddar for 20 years, smashing their previous accomplishment of a 15-year cheddar. Most of the big cheese was already spoken for, but the remaining 20 pounds has went on sale May 29 to the public, selling out soon after. $40,0000 of the profits made from the cheese is being donated to the Dairy Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Hook Cheese Co. has been crafting award winning cheddar, gorgonzola, colby and tons of other curds for over 45 years. Tony Hook isn't planning to make any more 20-year cheese, but he might set aside some of his 10 and 12 year blocks. "Who knows?" he said. "Maybe if you aged it 100 years it would be a solid rock and you'd have to lick it to see what it tasted like."

Alas, that 20-year-old block is gone, so if you've got a discerning palette and a couple hundred dollars burning a hole in your wallet, look elsewhere.