Also known as Old Smales, Old Winchester is an older version of Winchester. This is now a much dryer harder and crystalline cheese, becoming more reminiscent of an old gouda with a distinctive nuttiness in flavour, however it is a product of evolution and need. Because Old Winchester is made with a vegetarian rennet, on a number of occasions the cheese is being sold, and used as a vegetarian replacement for a hard Italian cheese, and yet can still be used as a table cheese, it has that bit more versatility.