Monroe, Wisc., home to the famed ‘stinky cheese’

A sign above the bar in Baumgartner’s Cheese Store and Tavern in Monroe, Wis. The sign warns diners about the famed “stinky cheese”, which is produced at a plant in the southern Wisconsin town.

The Chalet Cheese Co-op in Monroe, Wis., which bills itself as “America’s only Limburger cheese plant.” Limburger is known as a foul-smelling cheese but the local production is a point of pride in the tranquil town of Monroe.

Master cheesemaker Myron Olson.

Olson cut a piece of ripened Limburger at The Chalet Cheese Cooperative.

Cheesemaker Brian Engesser smeared bricks of Limburger cheese with a 100-year-old bacteria that makes the cheese mature, and produces the famed smell.

A diner at Baumgartner’s Cheese Store and Tavern in Monroe, Wis., enjoying a Limburger cheese sandwich.

Packets of Limburger cheese at The Chalet Cheese Cooperative.

Owner Tony Zgraggen at the Alp and Dell artisanal cheese store in Monroe, Wis. The store is one of the few places in the area where Limburger cheese, famous for its smell, can be bought.