[Homemade] 10 Year Old Parmesan Cheese

This 600 gram cheese (and it’s 2 sisters) were made using Ricki Carroll’s “Parmesan” recipe nearly 10 years ago on 7/11/16 

It was dried, vac packed and aged at 12 C.

It’s sisters were opened and eaten with much enjoyment at 2 years age and 6 years of age.

I finally ran out of patience and decided to open it.

I had a sniff, and realized that I had, sadly, gone too far.

Rather than the fruity notes I had hoped for, I got "Toast" and "Caramel". First taste confirmed that the cheese had been slowly deteriorating in flavor since I had opened it's sister 4 years ago. As I lost fruity flavor, the upside was Umami had increased, and crystal formation was just ridiculous.

I don't think I have ever seen a cheese as packed with crystals. The Umami was so strong, it actually numbed my tongue.

After resting the cheese for a while I grated it and made a few discoveries.
The crystal density increases towards the center of the cheese. I hadn't noticed this as much in previous cheeses.
The flavor has moderated after resting a bit. It's significantly less aggressive on the tongue and much more balanced.
I'm much happier about it now than I was a originally. Suffice to say I will be using every gram of it over time, so it's still a win!