Matured for more than 8 months, old Cantal delivers a powerful taste in the mouth, with spicy and full-bodied notes. Its rind is brown and thick. Its paste becomes dry and crumbly, brown, and dark in colour.
 
The cheese is additionally grouped as “fermier” and not “laitier”, wherein fermier is a farmhouse cheese made of raw milk while laitier is the commercial, mass-produced version from pasteurised milk.
 
Cantal works well with nuts, grapes and apples as well can be used in salads, soups, cheese fondue or gratins.