Emporium Selection 12 Days of Cheese Advent Calendar

Back in 2018, Aldi began selling Advent calendars in early November, and they became an unexpected hit among customers. The store has amped up its selection of calendars every year since then. We’ve seen calendars to suit every taste and interest, from Bluey and Barbie to beer and puzzles.

One calendar that’s always been there every year is a cheese Advent calendar. The usual cheese calendar is back this year with various flavors … but I also spotted a second, different cheese calendar right next to it.

This new cheese calendar is just a 12-day calendar, rather than 24 days like the original cheese calendar. What’s also notable is that this new calendar costs considerably more and contains less cheese. The new calendar costs $24.99 for 12.7 ounces, while the regular cheese calendar costs $16.99 for 16.9 ounces.

I had not seen Aldi advertise this new calendar, and, naturally, I was curious about whether it’s worth the higher price. So, I dropped one of the new cheese calendars in my shopping cart.

The Emporium Selection 12 Days of Cheese Advent Calendar is an Aldi Find. It’s only in stores for a short time. Each store should receive one shipment, and after that sells out, it’s gone. Aldi does not offer online ordering if this is out of stock at your local store.

We buy Aldi products with our own funds. As mentioned above, I paid $24.99 for a 12-ounce calendar in 2025. That comes out to about $2.08 per ounce or per piece of cheese.

This is sold under the Emporium Selection brand, which is not a company. The Emporium Selection name is what Aldi puts on gourmet cheese it sells, which it sources from various suppliers.

The package states this features small batch, all-natural, artisan cheese made with Wisconsin milk. The back of the calendar mentions, “Crafted from cow, goat, and sheep’s milk, these twelve curated cheeses are a journey through rich pastures, smoky cellars, and the heart of cheesemaking artistry.” The box also notes these cheeses are made with simple ingredients: “just pasteurized milk, salt, cultures, and enzymes.” It notes “some additional natural ingredients are added to the vat to create unique flavors.”

This includes the following cheeses, according to the back of the box. We’ve included our thoughts on each cheese as we’ve sampled them.

• Fontina — A nice basic cheese.
• Gouda — A softer cheese that we liked.
• Smoked Cheddar — This had a somewhat bitter taste. It was just okay.
• Native Sheep — This is a nice, mild cheese that our taste testers generally liked.
• Goat Cheddar — A good, mild cheese.
• Fontina de Provence — A good, herby-flavored cheese. We liked this one.
• Mellage — Some of our taste testers thought this tasted a bit like mozzarella. This one is good.
• Colored Aged Cheddar — It’s cheddar, and we like it.
• Cranberry Chipotle Cheddar — Our taste testers who like spicier foods enjoyed this medium spicy cheese. The cranberries are mild and not all that noticeable taste-wise. We also liked how this cheese looked, with lots of bright red swirls.
• Pepper Jack — Mildly spicy and one of our favorites.
• Apple Smoked Garlic Cheddar — We were excited to try this one because we like garlic, but it was very bitter. This one was a definite no from us.
• Creama Casa — This is a soft, smooth, slightly sharp cheese. We thought it was good.

These are definitely different cheeses than what’s included in the cheaper regular Aldi cheese calendar. We’ve never seen sheep cheese or goat cheese in the Aldi cheese calendar before, for instance.

One thing of note: the box is large. It’s thin but broad, measuring just under 1 inch tall and 18 inches by 12.5 inches. We don’t own a French door-style refrigerator, but we wonder if it might be difficult to fit the box in a French door fridge.

The Verdict:

The Emporium Selection 12 Days of Cheese Advent Calendar is a new, unadvertised cheese calendar at Aldi in 2025. Aldi is selling this alongside its usual 24-piece cheese calendar. The 12 Days cheese calendar features artisan cheese made with simple ingredients. It costs more, contains less cheese, and features some novel cheeses such as sheep cheese and goat cheese. We like just about all the cheese in this calendar, with the exception of the smoked ones, which we thought were on the bitter side. Still, though, there are enough good flavors that we’d buy this one again.