By Sara Atencio-Gonzales, The Paper. – For Hanna Lee, winning the title of Best Cheesemonger in America was not a surprise in the moment. It was the culmination of years of hard work, competition and determination.
Lee is a cheesemonger at Mouse Hole Cheese Shop in Downtown Albuquerque, the city’s only cut-to-order cheese shop. While she grew up in Seattle, she now calls Albuquerque home, where she helps customers discover artisan cheeses from around the world and recently brought one of the industry’s highest honors back to the Duke City.
“This was actually my third try at winning,” says Lee. “I was really trying to win, and I took a lot of lessons from the first few times and kind of refined my approach.”
When the final results were announced at the 2026 Cheesemonger Invitational in New York, Lee already knew what was coming.
“Before they even announced me, I knew that I had won and I was just kind of sitting there like, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re really going to say my name,'” says Lee. “It was just really cool and fulfilling to finally hear that I had accomplished this, which I’ve been trying to do for three years.”
The Cheesemonger Invitational is often referred to as the “Olympics of cheese,” and for good reason. Competitors are tested in nearly every aspect of the profession, including blind tastings, cheese knowledge, precision cutting, wrapping, aroma identification, salesmanship, food pairings and public presentations before a live audience.
Lee explains that the competition is designed to find the most well-rounded cheesemonger.
“You don’t have to be the best at every single thing. You can kind of get enough points as you go, and I feel like that’s kind of my strategy,” says Lee. “It’s a good, well-rounded cheesemonger competition.”
While many people may not know what a cheesemonger does, Lee describes the job as much more than simply selling cheese.
“I kind of see it as the liaison between the farmers and the customers,” says Lee. “When you come to a cut-to-order shop, you can ask questions. We can guide you to one you would like.”
That philosophy is reflected in the work Lee and the team do every day at Mouse Hole Cheese Shop. The Downtown Albuquerque shop specializes in sourcing artisan cheeses from small producers who prioritize quality, animal welfare and sustainable farming.
“[At Mouse Hole] we try to source as much as we can from small artisanal dairies that are doing the best that they can by the animals, the land, and the products that they’re making,” says Lee. “When you walk in here, you’re going to know that these animals are taken care of, the land is being taken care of and the product is high quality.”
Lee’s path to becoming the nation’s top cheesemonger was anything but conventional. After graduating from Oregon State University with a degree in animal science, she worked on a farmstead goat dairy in upstate New York before becoming a cheesemonger in Seattle. Stops in Boulder, Colorado and award-winning cheesemaking operations in Wisconsin eventually led her to Albuquerque.
Today, Lee works at Mouse Hole Cheese Shop alongside her partner, David Myers, who recently became the shop’s owner. Although Lee has earned one of the industry’s highest honors, her focus remains on growing Albuquerque’s cheese community.
“My main focus is the success of Mouse Hole and really cementing it as a place for the community in Albuquerque to come in and have that exposure to specialty cheese,” says Lee. “If you are interested in anything in the case, we’ll take it out and you can have a taste of it. We’re not going to sell you something that you’re not super into.”
For those interested in following a similar career path, Lee offers simple advice.
“I think be curious,” says Lee. “Just listening to people tell the stories of the cheese is the best way to learn.”
Mouse Hole Cheese Shop, located (300 Broadway Blvd. NE, Suite A), is Albuquerque’s only cut-to-order cheese shop. The shop specializes in small-batch artisan cheeses from around the world and offers seasonal food, cheese pairings and a Cheese of the Month Club. Customers are encouraged to sample cheeses before purchasing, and Lee says the shop hopes to begin offering more public cheese classes in the future, giving Albuquerque residents even more opportunities to explore the world of artisan cheese.