# Strong Bleu Cheese



## AT5760 (Jul 17, 2020)

Looking for some suggestions on bleu cheeses. The stronger the better. My wife loves bleu cheese and I can’t stand the stuff. I told her I’d gather some cheese for her birthday. Her favorite is an Australian bleu cheese called Roaring ‘40s. I haven’t found it locally. Before I start trying to hunt down local cheese mongers, I thought I would ask you all what I should be looking for. Thanks in advance!


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## LostHighway (Jul 17, 2020)

IME Roaring 40s isn't a terribly strong bleu cheese so be careful what you ask for. Cabrales, one of the Spanish (Asturian) bleus, is probably the strongest that is fairly widely available but occasionally you can find some aged mountain Gorgonzolas that are also quite strong.


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## Mikeadunne (Jul 17, 2020)

Valdeon- super funky and strong as hell


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## AT5760 (Jul 17, 2020)

Thanks! I have no frame of reference here. Just going by what the missus told me.


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## GoodMagic (Jul 17, 2020)

Humbolt fog is a goats cheese with a streak of blue cheese in the center, and it is awesome


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## LostHighway (Jul 17, 2020)

GoodMagic said:


> Humbolt fog is a goats cheese with a streak of blue cheese in the center, and it is awesome



The line in the center of Humbolt Fog is ash, similar to Morbier in that regard.


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## LostHighway (Jul 18, 2020)

I don't know what your local access to good cheese is like so let me offer a few more suggestions:
Jasper Hill's Bayley Hazen is very good (as are the other, not blue, Jasper Hill cheeses). I do find it a bit overpriced and it isn't extremely aggressive but among blue cheese it is a reliable choice.
I like Gorgonzola but you need to pay attention to the labeling. If it says "dolce" the blue funk will be dialed down and sweetness emphasized. If it is labelled "mountain", "stagionato" or sometimes just "aged" or "naturale" it will be more assertive.
Rogue River Creamery's Rogue River Blue used to be one of the better USA bleus but something went sideways about five years ago and the quality took a major dive IME. Maybe they have fixed it? I haven't had in in about four years so I don't know.
Colston-Basset Stilton is the benchmark for English blues and remains excellent although not a really aggressive blue. Like all good cheeses the quality varies with seasonality depending on the cow's diet. Spring/early summer is often the best. Stichelton is a variation on Stilton. It uses raw milk which Stilton generally no longer does. I'm not sure if it is still available in the USA.
I stand by my comment that the Spanish (Asturian) blue Cabrales tends to be the strongest fairly widely available blue cheese. It is traditionally made from a mixture of cow, sheep, and goat milk. Valdeon is sort of similar if slightly milder. Valdeon used to be a leaf wrapped cheese but the FDA put an end to that for the US market and the cheese has suffered. There are quite a number of other excellent Spanish blue cheeses like Gamonéu but they are very hard to find in the USA.
There are number of very good French bleus: Roquefort, Bleu d' Auvergene, Forme d' Ambert, and Bleu de Laqueuille. Bleu de Gex from the Jura, is probably the strongest of the French bleus but nearly impossible to obtain in the in the USA.
The FDA has been cracking down on their requirement that cheeses aged 60 days or less must not use raw milk. This has been quite damaging to cheese quality and/or availability. The argument is that the cheese could otherwise contain listeria bacteria which is true but it ignores the fact the many of the cheeses in question have been produced with raw milk for hundreds of years without being killing machines. A saner authority might have merely required a sticker that said "May contain listeria bacteria which can be dangerous for pregnant women, infants, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems". A pox on nanny state bureaucrats, at least in this case. The EU has their own caste of meddling bureaucrats.
Most major name cheeses exist in several forms ranging from fairly nondescript factory versions to much more expressive small producer variants. Caveat emptor


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## Michi (Jul 18, 2020)

For a Bavarian contribution, Bergader Edelpilz is a renowned cheese, very close in style and character to Roquefort. It's worth a try if you come across it.


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## parbaked (Jul 18, 2020)

I use local Pt Reyes Original Blue...they'll mail to you.








Original Blue Cheese


Our Original Blue Cheese is California style, rindless, all-natural and gluten free, with bold hints of sweet milk and a peppery finish.



www.pointreyescheese.com


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## LostHighway (Jul 18, 2020)

Michi said:


> For a Bavarian contribution, Bergader Edelpilz is a renowned cheese, very close in style and character to Roquefort. It's worth a try if you come across it.



Thanks, I have a friend in Munich and I'd love to go on a grand eating tour ferreting out obscure local/regional food and drink before it becomes extinct but these days that seems like a rather elusive dream. I find the increasing homogenization of culture both in Europe and North America to be a largely undesirable trend.


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## Michi (Jul 18, 2020)

LostHighway said:


> I find the increasing homogenization of culture both in Europe and North America to be a largely undesirable trend.


I sympathise with you. Thirty or forty years ago, leaving one's own continent and going somewhere else was an adventure. Every time I did that, I got to see, smell, taste, and experience things I'd never ever come across before. Today, it almost no longer matters where I go. I get the same logos, the same smells, the same tastes, and the same movies.

Globalisation has truly done a lot of positive things for many people. But it has definitely diminished diversity and the sense of adventure.


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## LostHighway (Jul 18, 2020)

I forgot Deer Creek Blue Jay which, IMO, is a very decent blue from Wisconsin. It is infused with juniper berries.


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## AT5760 (Jul 18, 2020)

Thanks @LostHighway. Sounds like you know your cheese! I polled my local FB group for places to find cheese and unfortunately I think Whole Foods may be my best shot. I’m in Omaha, NE and even though it’s a good sized city, it seems to be lacking in this area.
I appreciate all of the suggestions. If I liked the stuff, I could go by trial and error.


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## ExistentialHero (Jul 18, 2020)

Local is the way to go if you can find anything made in your area. There's hundreds of small creameries all over the US doing all sorts of interesting things--pretty good odds you can find some decent blues.

If you ever make it over to Lincoln, it looks like UNL runs a dairy and store that would certainly be worth a visit: UNL Dairy Store | Nebraska


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## T-Steve (Jul 18, 2020)

If you are in the Pacific northwest try Rogue Creamery blues. They won some sort of award recently in an international cheese competition.
Rogue Creamery link
Luckily I can find it around the Portland area in some Albertsons/Safeways.


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## tkern (Jul 18, 2020)

If in Maine check out:

Winter hill - Bradbury mountain blue
Josh pond- esker blue
Fuzzy udder- polar vortex
Spring day creamery- spring day blues


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## Danzo (Jul 19, 2020)

GoodMagic said:


> Humbolt fog is a goats cheese with a streak of blue cheese in the center, and it is awesome


It’s not blue mold, it’s actually a line of vegetable ash. Just for show. Homage to Morbier. —edit, just read someone already corrected this, seems there’s another cypress grove fan here.

try Papillon Roquefort. That **** stinks.


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## riba (Jul 19, 2020)

Ah yeah, Cabrales rocks!

Once brought it back home on a flight from Madrid. Opened my backpack to get a book and noticed my neighbor desperately closing her nose while looking extremely agitated. Apparently vacuum packing didn't help... Also the smell of my fridge once I got home...


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## Michi (Jul 19, 2020)

riba said:


> Once brought it back home on a flight from Madrid. Opened my backpack to get a book and noticed my neighbor desperately closing her nose while looking extremely agitated.


Try Durian next time…


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## LostHighway (Jul 19, 2020)

riba said:


> Ah yeah, Cabrales rocks!
> 
> Once brought it back home on a flight from Madrid. Opened my backpack to get a book and noticed my neighbor desperately closing her nose while looking extremely agitated. Apparently vacuum packing didn't help... Also the smell of my fridge once I got home...



Many of the washed rind cheeses can be extremely pungent, IME more so than any blue. It is bacteria at work rather than fungal activity and there can be a distinct note of decomposition. I've had some amazing Bergfichte that were nearly hallucinatory. I am told that Innerschweizer Schafkäse can be even stinkier and wilder but I haven't had the pleasure. Sadly, that is also true of Kuntener and Stanser Chua Fladä. The North American market for the more esoteric expressions of the art of the Swiss cheese makers is apparently rather small. There are a few USA cheese makers who are starting to produce some good washed rind cheeses: Winnimere from Vermont's Jasper Hill is usually good as is Grayson from Virginia but they are often mishandled by the retailers (not properly stored and cut too soon). Even the best of them are rather more timid than the best of Switzerland.



Michi said:


> Try Durian next time…



Durian is available in Asian markets in the USA but I haven't summoned the courage so far. Intact in the market they don't seem all that stinky but I don't know if that means they aren't ripe or if you have to cut into them to get the full effect?


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## Michi (Jul 19, 2020)

LostHighway said:


> Durian is available in Asian markets in the USA but I haven't summoned the courage so far.


It's definitely a love-it or hate-it type thing. Some people fall in love, others throw up instantly.



> Intact in the market they don't seem all that stinky but I don't know if that means they aren't ripe or if you have to cut into them to get the full effect?


They do smell as they ripen:

Plane in Canada makes emergency landing because of stinky fruit


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## AT5760 (Jul 22, 2020)

My local grocery store actually had some Blue Jay, so I bought a chunk today. We’ll see if the Mrs. likes it.


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## MarcelNL (Aug 4, 2020)

Valdeon, Cabrales or Achelse Blauwe ( hard to find I reckon as the maker is quit eeccentric and may refuse to sell if he does not like you) it won a couple of big prizes.

if you want funky non bleu cheeses try to get the oldest Rasskäse you can find, it's an Austrian niche cheese that made me stop driving and throwing it out of the trunk (vacuum wrapped in thick plastic as it was) , it will give your belly a whole new set of Bacteria ....or at quite a distance, try a well cured Epoisse.

on a second note, My fridge at one time also grew a very stinky subculture on the drip tray around the motor where the condensation evaporates, inoculated by Rasskäse, so beware!


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## Bobby2shots (Aug 4, 2020)

Danish Blue for me please. For something a little milder and creamier, maybe a Bleu de Bresse.


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## AT5760 (Aug 4, 2020)

My wife really liked the Blue Jay. She said it has good flavor but is very mild.


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## LostHighway (Aug 4, 2020)

AT5760 said:


> My wife really liked the Blue Jay. She said it has good flavor but is very mild.



I'm glad she liked it. I feel the same way about it, good flavor but not very aggressive.


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## Dendrobatez (Aug 4, 2020)

Mikeadunne said:


> Valdeon- super funky and strong as hell



Valdeon and Asher are 2 of my favorite blues.


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## podzap (Aug 17, 2020)

Roquefort, no question.


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## Eziemniak (Sep 12, 2020)

AT5760 said:


> Looking for some suggestions on bleu cheeses. The stronger the better. My wife loves bleu cheese and I can’t stand the stuff. I told her I’d gather some cheese for her birthday. Her favorite is an Australian bleu cheese called Roaring ‘40s. I haven’t found it locally. Before I start trying to hunt down local cheese mongers, I thought I would ask you all what I should be looking for. Thanks in advance!


Cabrales from Asturias, without doubt the strongest I've tried (make sure it has sheep's milk)
Smells like my feet after 12h shift
Fantastic stuff


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## Eziemniak (Sep 12, 2020)

LostHighway said:


> I don't know what your local access to good cheese is like so let me offer a few more suggestions:
> Jasper Hill's Bayley Hazen is very good (as are the other, not blue, Jasper Hill cheeses). I do find it a bit overpriced and it isn't extremely aggressive but among blue cheese it is a reliable choice.
> I like Gorgonzola but you need to pay attention to the labeling. If it says "dolce" the blue funk will be dialed down and sweetness emphasized. If it is labelled "mountain", "stagionato" or sometimes just "aged" or "naturale" it will be more assertive.
> Rogue River Creamery's Rogue River Blue used to be one of the better USA bleus but something went sideways about five years ago and the quality took a major dive IME. Maybe they have fixed it? I haven't had in in about four years so I don't know.
> ...


So true...
It is nigh impossible to get any fresh milk here in Spain, hate pasteurised stuff


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## chiffonodd (Sep 12, 2020)

Having lived in Oregon, I'm gonna put in another vote for Rogue River Blue, from Rogue River Creamery.


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## ceyllan (Dec 19, 2020)

Where can we get good cheese...


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## parbaked (Jul 4, 2021)

If any one is looking to try another good blue, I can recommend Mad River Blue from Vermont.
It's made by the Sound of Music von Trapp family, who settled in VT in the 1940's because it reminded them of Austria.
We tried a piece recently and really enjoyed it...














VON TRAPP FARMSTEAD







vontrappfarmstead.com


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## cotedupy (Jul 5, 2021)

How about illegal Sardinian Maggot Cheese? Meant to be similar to over-ripe Gorgonzola... 









Casu martzu - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


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## coxhaus (Jul 5, 2021)

parbaked said:


> If any one is looking to try another good blue, I can recommend Mad River Blue from Vermont.
> It's made by the Sound of Music von Trapp family, who settled in VT in the 1940's because it reminded them of Austria.
> We tried a piece recently and really enjoyed it...
> View attachment 133614
> ...



Let's get out a bottle of wine and some crackers. It looks like a party.


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## WiriWiri (Jul 5, 2021)

Some excellent, strong blue cheeses on offer on this side of the pond, but recommendations may not be the most practical help to the OP, given the location. But outside of stilton, there are plenty of heritage and super pungent varieties available - honourable mentions should go the fantastically named and super smelly Minger from Scotland, and Blue Monday (I think that cheese farmer from Blur is involved)

We once pretty much tore apart one of the rented houses I lived in post-university, trying to track down a deathly stench that was increasingly plaguing our house. At first we suspected some prawns-sewed into curtains type jape after a house party too many, but so bad was the smell that eventually suspicions turned darker - dead rodents under floorboards or worse. Eventually, after multiple workmen visits and costly drain investigations, it turned out that someone had thoughtfully posted some Camembert and gorgonzola to our absent flatmate, away in Colombia for a month at the time

I wouldn’t recommend posting blue cheese to anyone you like…


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## MarcelNL (Jul 12, 2021)

OT yet on cheese; I find that it's mostly the red bacteria cheeses with a wet crust that smell 'pungently', blue cheese is rather mildly smelly IMO.

We just had a piece of Herve (non blue stinker cheese, a bit like Munster or Epoisse) that got me wondering if there was a dead animal in the house....turned out the cheese that was kept in a glass container with an airtight sealed plastic lid.

My smelliest encounter was with Rass käse, which is a local Austrian Alpine product that cures for ages (probably in cow dung from the smell of it), and ends up smelling like nothing I've smelled before... It's used in a a 50-50 mix with Bergkäse in the local Spätzle, a dish I grew fond of in my youth)
I just wonder why I cannot find it in any cheese shops. First taste of the pure product (aged 5 years, the strongest there is AFAIK) took us a few hours to bring up the courage to taste it, each of us bit off a few cubic mm....after that initiation the taste was OK, strong but loads of flavor, yet our bowels grumbled for like half a day probably because new bacteria came to take over.

Later on after bringing home a piece we had to investigate (a previous house) to find the origin of the dreadful smell, to find out (after days of searching) that the Rass käse had migrated to the back of the fridge, condensation had taken it to the tray that sits over the motor where condensation evaporates....the cheese had started new life there, I'm quite sure the world population could have died from the ugly mutants that grew there.


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## Michi (Jul 12, 2021)

MarcelNL said:


> the cheese had started new life there, I'm quite sure the world population could have died from the ugly mutants that grew there.


It's not ripe unless it starts moving by itself…


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## MarcelNL (Jul 12, 2021)

can't believe I found it online....the alpine farmers and cheese makers actually evolved into the 21st century 









▷ Rässkäse - trockengereift 🥇 Super Heumilch | 35 % F.i.T.


ll➤ Rässkäse im Käseshop 🤚 Heumilch Premium Käse 🤚 Testen Sie unseren Räßkäse - trockengereift - aus Heumilch. Traditionell hergestellt und händisch gepflegt.




alpensepp.com





Now I have to have ordered some, if only to see if any courier/postal service dares to deliver it 

Holy smoke, they are selling one of my most favorite cheesemakers in that Region! And 2 year aged Bergkäse, spicy enough to put blisters in your mouth...literally!

Can't wait to find out how this goes, I've looked for those cheeses for years, to only find some cheeses that vaguely resemble the originals.


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## LostHighway (Jul 12, 2021)

MarcelNL said:


> OT yet on cheese; I find that it's mostly the red bacteria cheeses with a wet crust that smell 'pungently', blue cheese is rather mildly smelly IMO.
> 
> We just had a piece of Herve (non blue stinker cheese, a bit like Munster or Epoisse) that got me wondering if there was a dead animal in the house....turned out the cheese that was kept in a glass container with an airtight sealed plastic lid.
> 
> ...




Blue cheese are inoculated with Penicillium strains, that is where the veins of blue mold come from. Roquefort with _Penicillium roqueforti _and Gorgonzola with _P. glaucum. _There are several hundred known _Penicillium _species.
What I think you're referring to _as "the red bacteria cheeses with a wet crust"_ are generally lumped together, at least in North America, as washed rind cheeses and it is indeed primarily bacteria (some yeasts are also involved) rather than mold/fungi doing the work. _Brevibacterium linens_ was long thought to be the primarily agent (it contributes to that yellow to reddish color) but it is now recognized that it is a much more complicated microbial ecosystem, at least on the better cheeses, not to mention the science experiment in the back of your refrigerator. The challenge for home ripening these cheeses is that refrigerators are both too cold (they tend to like 10C - 13C) and are far too dry (around 85% humidity is preferred). Ideally you have a local cheese monger that really knows his business and sells properly ripened cheese but in North America those are very rare creatures.
That odor of decay is something that divides eaters perhaps even more strongly than cilantro/coriander or markedly bitter* foods. I'm all in on all of these, the weirder and funkier the better.

*If you have the opportunity do try the amaro/digestive Elisir Novasalus from Alto Adige, it will reset your notions of bitter but is surprisingly complex and interesting. Gammel Dansk (the geographically closest example I could come up with) is only mildly bitter in comparison.


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## MarcelNL (Jul 12, 2021)

@LostHighway You are completely right. The only reason that I usually keep cheeses in the 'smelly family' in the fridge is to control their smell a bit until we take them out to eat (early enough to get to the right temperature.

The Rasskäse will need to be frozen for storage, I've tried bringing some home by car on a few occasions but found I could not drive fast enough through Germany to outrun the smell creeping in from the trunk...all of that while the cheese was vacuum sealed in tow very thick layers of plastic. That stuff ought to be sold with a biohazard warning on it!

I count myself lucky that we have two VERY good cheese mongers who simply refuse to sell the cheese until ripe or when over it's peak (when the ammonia and bitters takes over).

Will try the Novasalus, it appears to somehow resemble a concoction I know from Wallis, Switzerland...I can trade you for a locally distilled Enzian schnapps, I had the privilege to taste it straight from the still as a teenager, coming in at approx 70%Vol, still not sure how we got off the Alm....I am not aware that anything else makes your mouth pucker more than that, equal to taking a large spoonful of Cinnamon in your mouth...


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## LostHighway (Jul 12, 2021)

MarcelNL said:


> @LostHighway You are completely right. The only reason that I usually keep cheeses in the 'smelly family' in the fridge is to control their smell a bit until we take them out to eat (early enough to get to the right temperature.
> 
> The Rasskäse will need to be frozen for storage, I've tried bringing some home by car on a few occasions but found I could not drive fast enough through Germany to outrun the smell creeping in from the trunk...all of that while the cheese was vacuum sealed in tow very thick layers of plastic. That stuff ought to be sold with a biohazard warning on it!
> 
> ...



I keep them in the refrigerator too. The problem here is that sellers tend to be a bit cavalier about cutting and selling cheeses before they are properly fully ripe. Room temperature is too warm, refrigerator temperatures are too cold, and both are too dry. Eventually I may be driven to buy a small wine cooler and try to ramp up the humidity. I have seen some very fancy DIY efforts using PID controllers but I'm not sure I'm quite that ambitious.


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## MarcelNL (Jul 12, 2021)

now THAT is a great idea....I do have a temperature controlled wine fridge that would only need some additional humidity....add something like a tiny humidifier or a couple of really damp rags and it's a go....it's just that I only need to store cheese every now and then and I'm almost certain the lingering smell would get into the wine.


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## LostHighway (Jul 12, 2021)

MarcelNL said:


> now THAT is a great idea....I do have a temperature controlled wine fridge that would only need some additional humidity....add something like a tiny humidifier or a couple of really damp rags and it's a go....it's just that I only need to store cheese every now and then and I'm almost certain the lingering smell would get into the wine.



Yes, I think you might need a separate cooler dedicated as your "cheese cave." Our basement stays at a fairly constant 17C to 20C year-round and since I'm not trying to age wines beyond a decade, at most, I can get by without a wine cooler.


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## MarcelNL (Jul 22, 2021)

and there was peace for some rather smelly pieces of cheese. Opened the first one just now, and enjoying a blast from the past


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