The most expensive cheeses in the world
Pule has topped these rankings for over a decade. Here is why, and who follows it.
Why a cheese becomes expensive
Three causes, nearly always the same: a rare milk, a low yield and a long maturation. A fourth factor, the story, does the rest — a cheese without a narrative never sells dear, however hard it is to make.
The usual ranking
| Cheese | Origin | What makes it expensive |
|---|---|---|
| Pule | Serbia | Donkey milk, roughly 25 litres per kilo, a tiny herd |
| Moose House | Sweden | Moose milk, milking possible only a few months a year |
| Bitto storico | Italy | Summer alpine production, maturation that can exceed ten years |
| Caciocavallo podolico | Italy | Podolian cattle give little, highly seasonal milk |
| Wyke Farms vintage cheddar | United Kingdom | Limited editions and extended maturation |
| Gold White Stilton | United Kingdom | Edible gold leaf, a showpiece product |
Why pule is a special case
Unlike most of the cheeses in the table, pule's scarcity is not a marketing decision but a biological limit. You cannot simply choose to make more: you would first have to increase the number of jennies in milk, which takes years. That is what keeps its price durably high.