Best mature cheddar: Supermarkets versus brands like Cathedral City - which comes out on top?

Whether bubbling on top of a lasagne, grated on a baked potato or simply part of a lunchtime sandwich, mature cheddar is a versatile cheese that supplies a robust, tangy, satisfying flavour.

Our panel of 64 tasters blind-tested 11 mature cheddars, from the brands Castello, Cathedral City, Davidstow and Pilgrims Choice, alongside seven supermarket own-labels such as Aldi, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

As we’ve sometimes found in previous years, the big brands didn’t fare well, with one of them the least popular of all the cheddars. 

We've awarded Best Buys to two supermarket cheddars, and there's also a budget option that impressed our tasters. Read on for the details.

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Best mature cheddar

Waitrose's cheddar was the top scorer in this year's taste test,  impressing with its delicious flavour and pleasing texture. M&S was meltingly close, and both of these cheeses get Best Buy badges. 

Aldi and Sainsbury's tied for third place, and we've made Aldi cheddar a Great Value choice.

Best Buy: Waitrose Davidstow Cornish Mature Cheddar – 77%

£5.75 for 550g (£1.05 per 100g)

A delicious cheese that was a real hit with our tasters. It looked great and had a pleasing firm texture.

Most tasters thought it had just the right smoothness and creaminess, as well as perfect saltiness. 

Two thirds of our tasters said the strength of flavour was just right, and the same proportion were satisfied with this cheddar's crumbliness.

Achieving the highest overall score means that Waitrose's cheese is our top Best Buy. Slice for slice, it’s also one of the cheaper cheeses on test.

Available from Waitrose.

Best Buy: M&S Cornish Cove Mature Cheddar – 76%

£6.50 for 550g (£1.18 per 100g)

M&S achieved the second-highest score overall and is also a Best Buy. Its flavour was enjoyed as much as the top scorer, and this cheddar makes an excellent all-rounder.

It looked great, and most people thought that it had a smooth, firm texture, with just the right level of crumble. 

Its salt levels worked for most tasters, too, as did the flavour strength.

This cheese comes in at a mid-range price, so won't hit the purse strings too hard.

Available in-store at M&S and from Ocado.

Great Value: Aldi Specially Selected West Country Mature Cheddar Cheese – 74%

£3.39 for 350g (97p per 100g)

While it didn't score quite as highly as the top two cheddars, this cheese from Aldi is a decent all-rounder and doesn't disappoint when it comes to price.

Its flavour was up there with the best, and more than three quarters of our tasters liked its look and firmness. Nearly three quarters also approved of its salt levels, creaminess and smoothness.

Although tasters generally enjoyed this cheddar's texture, around a third felt it wasn't crumbly enough.

Aldi’s cheese was not only popular with our panel but is also the cheapest on test, so gets our Great Value badge.

Available in-store at Aldi.

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Barber's Mature Cruncher Cheese – 74%

 £4 for 350g (£1.14 per 100g)

Another well-liked cheese that matched Aldi for popularity among our tasters. High points included a good colour, firmness and smoothness, plus pleasant salt levels. Most also agreed that this cheddar had the right balance of crumble and creaminess.

Half were happy with its flavour, but opinions were divided among the remainder. A quarter found it too strong, while another quarter wanted more tang.

If you’re a regular in Sainsbury’s, this cheddar makes a good choice and costs less than average among all the cheeses on test.

 Available from Sainsbury’s.

How Cathedral City, Morrisons, Tesco and the rest of the cheddars compare

None of the major cheese brands were at the top of the table, but Castello and Davidstow were the best of the runners-up. Cathedral City was the least enjoyed, while Pilgrims Choice was the joint-least liked.

• Castello Tickler Mature Devonshire Cheddar – 73%. Priciest on test, but with good looks and flavour, plus a popular creamy firmness. Many wanted a crumblier texture, though. £4.50 for 300g (£1.50 per 100g). Available from Ocado.
• Davidstow Classic Cheddar 12 Months – 73%. Not a cheap option, but a well-liked all-rounder. It looks appealing and has a pleasant flavour, smooth firm texture and good salt levels. £5 for 350g (£1.43 per 100g). Available from Amazon, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury's and Tesco.
• Tesco Finest Mature English Cheddar – 73%. Many wanted this cheese to be crumblier, but it hit the spot in most other areas. Its smooth texture was particularly praised. £4 for 350g (£1.14 per 100g). Available from Tesco.
• Morrisons The Best Somerset Cheddar Crunch – 72%. A good enough cheese with a generally popular creamy, firm texture. A third of tasters found it too strongly flavoured, though. £3.49 for 300g (£1.16 per 100g). Available from Morrisons.
• Cathedral City Our Mature Cheddar – 71%. Light in colour and not the strongest flavour, but well-liked salt levels and a good firm, smooth texture. £3.75 for 350g (£1.07 per 100g). Available from Amazon, Asda, Co-op, Iceland, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose.
• Co-op Irresistible Somerset Mature Cheddar – 68%. An OK cheese with a good texture, but tasters were less impressed by the flavour than with most of the other cheeses on test. £4.75 for 340g (£1.40 per 100g). Available from Co-op.
• Pilgrims Choice Mature Cheddar – 68%. Although it looked the part, this widely available brand was deemed bland, and the texture didn’t impress either. £5.50 for 540g (98p per 100g). Available from Amazon, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose.

Best cheap food and drink – find out the supermarket own labels that beat pricier well-known brands in our taste tests

Is cheddar good for you?

Cheddar is around a quarter protein, making it a good source. It’s also high in calcium plus other minerals, such as iodine and phosphorus. Additionally, it contains vitamins B2, B5 and B12, which are needed for energy production, making new cells and brain function, among other things.

On a less positive note, cheddar also contains a fair bit of saturated fat, which can increase your risk of heart disease. NHS guidelines recommend no more than 20g of saturated fat a day for women, and 30g for men.

You may spot reduced-fat versions, which tend to contain around 14% saturated fat.

Salt levels are relatively high, too, at around 1.8g per 100g. No more than 6g a person a day is recommended by the NHS. 

The cheddars in our test varied little in nutritional content, and all are suitable for vegetarians.

Can you freeze cheddar?

Buying larger blocks of cheddar can work out well for making savings. 

Cheese lasts well in the fridge in an airtight container, but can also be popped in the freezer. You could grate it, or cut it into smaller blocks and take out on an as-you-need basis.

The cheddar will tend to be crumblier after it’s defrosted, which makes it more difficult to slice, but the flavour is unaffected.

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Violife and other vegan cheese

Plant-based cheeses have been booming in recent years, with vegan versions now available of everything from cheddar and blue cheese to feta and mozzarella.

But vegan cheese isn’t just a straight swap for dairy - nutritionally, it’s quite different. Many of the mass-produced supermarket options are made from coconut oil and modified starch. They often pack similar amounts of saturated fat and salt as the real thing but are lower in protein and higher in carbs. To make up for this, minerals such as calcium and vitamin B12 are usually added.

Popular and widely available brands include Violife, which offers a range of alternatives including its Greek White feta-style cheese. Cheddar alternatives come from Cathedral City, Applewood and supermarket own labels such as Sainsbury’s and Tesco, while La Fauxmagerie makes a plant-based blue cheese.

Nut-based cheeses are another option, though harder to find in supermarkets. These tend to be richer in protein and lower in salt and saturated fat, making them a slightly healthier alternative.

How we tested cheddar

We recruited real cheddar fans – people who buy and eat mature cheddar – chosen to broadly represent UK adults in terms of age, gender and more.

All the cheddars were blind-tasted in September 2025 at our specialist test lab, with more than 7 kg of mature cheddar put to the ultimate taste test by a panel of 64 people.

The taste test was completely blind, so no one knew which brand they were sampling. Each cheddar was served in a fully rotated order to avoid any bias, and every tester had their own private booth to savour the flavours without influence from others.

The tasters rated the flavour, aroma, appearance and texture of each cheddar and told us what they liked and disliked. 

The overall score was based on:

• 50% flavour
• 20% aroma
• 15% appearance
• 15% texture.

These weightings are based on what people ranked as the most important attributes when tasting mature cheddar cheese. All our results are checked and analysed by our in-house statistical team.

Price and availability checked: 9 October 2025