Putting that Balderson’s 5 year old on my list!
When I was growing up in NY State, the 5 year old cheddars tasted too bitter and they did not have the texture that they do now.
Seems like they did not have the aging process down.
These days, they can be wonderful.
They have a 3-year version as well if you’re looking for something in-between, but yes, those old cheddars are delicious now 
I’ve never made risotto myself, but I can see where that might be an iffy choice. My solution, I imagine, would be to use the cheaper stuff IN the risotto (in the pot), and safe the expensive stuff to grate ON to the risotto on on the plate.
The melting argument might work here, as I’m sure the cheap stuff has emulsifiers and such, so it should be possible to use MOSTLY cheap and then add smaller portions of the good stuff to enhance flavor.
Thankfully, such experiemtns should be pretty darn tasty.
The factory tour is a self guided walk through with windows to the production and doesn’t take all that long so not a big hunk of time out a trip if you are driving by on the way to other vacation things.
ETA @AnthonyC in case they missed this reply… If you are driving down the coast stop in and have a look otherwise there are better things to make for a day trip in the area.
I’ve done a “factory” tour like that in Wisconsin, and at a few cheesemakers in Ohio. Generally, the shop is in front of the room where the cheese is made, so windows and a few explanatory plaques constitute a “tour” of the place. I still look and read every time I go in. Cheesemaking fascinates me.
Tillamook is bigger, you walk by the murals and descriptions or company history and such then walk over the factory floor and finally into the shop for samples and you can buy all the standard tourist tchotchkes as well as cheese.
One more thing on the list of “Things to Go See If We Ever Make It to the Northwest.” Thanks!
If you’re ever in Vermont, the tour through the Cabot cheese factory is pretty excellent and their tasting room is glorious.
I feel a song coming on…
Edit: the duo behind this band (Sara Kelly and Dan Fishback) have since blazed separate trails and they are definitely trails worth hearing and seeing:
Sara (with husband Kevin): The Pilgrim & The Pen | Homesick Elephant
Chef Massimo Bottura gave us the recipe for this creamy risotto, a take on the classic Roman pasta dish cacio e pepe that he developed after earthquakes devastated the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy in 2012. Wanting to utilize the nearly 1,000 wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano that were damaged in the disaster, he devised an ingenious technique. First, he simmers parmesan cheese in water, then refrigerates it until it separates into three distinct layers: protein solids on the bottom, a thick broth in the middle, and a parmesan cream on top. The broth is slowly stirred into the risotto, taking the place of chicken stock, while the cream is added toward the end of cooking, giving the risotto a luxurious texture and little need for any additional salt.
it’s a take on the classics, not the classics themselves…
I’m doing a trip up the coast and it’s along the way. Thanks!
I’ll see your Python sketch, and raise you one blasphemy.
Grandpa’s cheese barn is the one reason I’ll head to Ashland and I do it far more often than is healthy for my budget.
Then again, this is typically the kind of cheese that is hard to ship far away: it has to be kept cool-ish but you can’t freeze it. The price of being raw milk, non-pasteurized cheese.
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