Do you enjoy cheddar cheese? Do you prefer your cheese well-aged? Perhaps you would enjoy, for $50 per pound, what the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel calls “the single malt scotch of cheddar.” It’s 15-year-old cheddar from Hook’s Cheese Co. of Mineral Point, Wisconsin. And the few stores allowed to carry it can barely keep it on the shelves.

The 1,200-pound stash of what’s believed to be the oldest cheddar on the U.S. market is selling so quickly for holiday gift-giving and entertaining that it may be gone by the weekend, one week after its release, said cheese maker Tony Hook, who co-owns Hook’s Cheese Co. with his wife and fellow cheese-maker, Julie Hook.

“For all the hype about the bad economy, we were having a good year even before we released this cheese,” Tony Hook said Tuesday. “The response to the 15-year-old cheddar has been unbelievable. We’re getting phone calls and e-mails from all over the country and the world. It’s beyond ridiculous.”

Mmm. Behold the power of elderly cheese.

From Wisconsin to the world [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel] (Thanks, PecanPi!)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.