Last Updated on October 28, 2023
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Aldi cheese Advent calendar sold for $16.99 in 2023.
In recent years, Aldi has taken to selling a lot of Advent calendars, some of them better than others. From wine and beer calendars to toys, there’s now a little bit of everything for everyone.
Aldi sells a cheese Advent calendar. It’s ostensibly meant as a pairing to the wine calendar, but we like cheese by itself, so it’s one we’ve tried in 2018 and 2019. In the fall of 2020, we decided to give the latest one a go. The 2020 version was $14.99, the same as in 2019.
The Emporium Collection Cheese Advent Calendar, like all Aldi Advent calendars, is an Aldi Find, which means it’s only in stores for a short time. It comes with 24 cheeses across 12 different varieties.
Our family decided to try out each of them, one each day. Here are our observations.
Edam:
- Me: “Salty, but not bad, although the aftertaste lingers longer than I’m used to in a cheese.”
- Wife: “It has an aftertaste.”
- Daughter: “I hate that cheese.”
Aged Cheddar:
- Me: “A very dry cheddar, but interesting”
- Wife: “It’s like classic cheddar.”
- Daughter: “That was actually pretty good.”
Black pepper gouda
- Me: “That’s different. I thought it would be like pepper jack, but it’s not. It’s a gouda with a mild pepper taste.”
- Wife: “It’s okay. It’s not my favorite. It has a pepper aftertaste.”
- Daughter: “I don’t like pepper, so it doesn’t do it for me.”
Mediterranean gouda
- Me: “It’s got a rich flavor. Reminds me just a bit of pepper jack or pizza cheese, but more mild.”
- Wife: “It’s good. It’s herby. I don’t like olives, so I’m not sure what I think about a cheese with olives in it, but I liked it.”
- Daughter: “That’s good! It tastes like pizza!”
Cheddar with Chive and Onion
- Me: “Those chives look a little weird — at first I almost thought they looked like mold — but that’s an interesting flavor combination.”
- Wife: “I don’t know that I would eat it all the time because it was strongly onion-flavored, but it was good.”
- Daughter: “It’s good. If you like onions, you’ll like it.”
Gouda:
- Me: “This is a nice cheese with a little bit of bitterness. I like that it has more flavor than, say, a provolone or mozzarella.”
- Wife: “It was okay.”
- Daughter: “It tastes a little like mozzarella. I liked it.”
Red Leicester
- Me: “It’s like a extra sharp cheddar. Has some bite. I wouldn’t eat it in large quantities, but I think it would be a fun appetizer cheese.”
- Wife: “It’s similar to a cheddar, but sharper.”
- Daughter: “It tastes like cheddar. I don’t really taste any difference. If you like cheddar, you’ll like this.”
Mustard Gouda
- Me: “It’s more mild than I thought. Very subtle mustard flavor.”
- Wife: “The mustard flavor isn’t very strong. It’s pretty good.”
- Daughter: “It tastes a little like mozzarella.” (Same thing she said about the gouda)
Gouda With Herbs
- Me: “Herby, mild cheese, and smooth.”
- Wife: “It’s good. It tastes like pizza cheese.”
- Daughter: “It tastes like pizza cheese again.”
Aged Cheddar:
- Me: “It starts mild, but has a bite that sinks in after a while. Fairly dry. I like it, but definitely best in small quantities. I don’t think I could overeat this one.”
- Wife: “Tastes strong for cheddar. It’s a bit sour.”
- Daughter: “It’s not bad. It’s a little weird, and it does have a sour taste.”
Cheddar With Sage
- Me: “It tastes a little like cheddar, but with a subtext flavor that comes out more in the aftertaste. It almost reminded me of a mild menthol.”
- Wife: “It’s herby, but good. Not my favorite. Somewhere in the middle.”
- Daughter: *Bites a part, shakes head, and hands the rest back to me*
Mild Cheddar:
- Me: “I liked it. It thought it was maybe slightly sharper than the mild cheddar we get from the store, but it was a good cheese.”
- Wife: “It was good. About what I would expect from cheddar.”
- Daughter: “It tastes good. It tastes like cheddar.”
Nutrition and information. (Click to enlarge.)
The Verdict:
The Emporium Selection Cheese Advent Calendar is a fun way to celebrate the holidays. The cheese won’t all do it for everyone, but with 12 different varieties across 24 days, it’s definitely not short on options.
