# Recommend a few cheeses for a party cheese tray **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-few-cheeses-for-a-party-cheese-tray/993445 **Category:** Cafe Society **Tags:** food-cooking **Created:** [November 20, 2023, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-few-cheeses-for-a-party-cheese-tray/993445 "2023-11-20T22:41:45Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 21
### Author: ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell) #### Post date: [November 21, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-few-cheeses-for-a-party-cheese-tray/993445/21 "2023-11-21T14:43:57Z")
It was at Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor that I had 3, 5, and 7 year old Gouda about fifteen years ago. My recollection was the 5 was significantly more raisin/prune-y than the 3, with more of those nice protein crystals in it. The 7 started becoming too much of a good thing. I don’t remember which dairy produced it, and results may differ among dairies. ETA, ah, I found a contemporaneous link/review: > [@Cheese... GLORIOUS CHEESE!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-glorious-cheese/327745/11): > > My recent cheese kicks have been aged Gouda and Morbier. I’ve gone through several different varieties and ages of Gouda, and have decided that I most like the 5-year-old Gouda. The 3-year-olds still taste very young and very Gouda-ish. By 5-years, though, the cheese just changes character completely. I used to poo poo Gouda, but now that I’ve had it aged, I will champion it. An aged Gouda is complex, with fruity and nutty flavors. I taste port, whiskey, and raisins, in it. It’s absolutely fanta… I will say, though, that recently I had an aged Gouda more in the 2-3 year timeframe that tasted as aged as that 5-year one I liked back then. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-few-cheeses-for-a-party-cheese-tray/993445)._