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:
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.
See what they currently stock! I know the last time I visited, which was probably ten years ago (I had a friend who worked at the university who has since moved), they didn’t have all those varieties. I still get some mail order Christmas gifts from them. Their holiday catalog is positively food smut. Great place, a little on the spendy side but worth it for the curation and quality. They also have/had a French violet mustard made with grape must, I believe, that is worth trying. A little bit mellow for my mustard tastes, but great in its own right.
Well, University of Michigan is one of the colleges my younger son applied to for next year, so maybe I’ll see if he wants to do a visit over the holidays, with lunch at Zingerman’s. That seems like a good way to spend a day.
Some kind of semi-hard cheese (Jarlsberg, young cheddar, young gouda, Swiss etc.)
Some kind of soft cheese (brie et al)
Some kind of hard cheese (mature cheddar, mature gouda etc.)
Some kind of goat cheese
Some kind of blue cheese
Some kind of sheeps milk cheese (feta etc.)
Some kind of super hard cheese (parmesan, pecorino etc.)
Some kind of super challenging cheese (a super stinky soft cheese)
Decide how many cheeses you want and cut it off at that line, you can play around with the exact order based on your/your friends preferences. Too many cheeses is a punishing experience for people, I’ve found rarely is more than 5 or 6 enjoyable.
If the goal is to discover cheeses and you’re willing to stand there all evening and personally explain why you chose a particular cheese and how to eat it, then by all means go for the super funky options your cheesemonger recommends and the entire backstory behind it. It sounds like you want to do that for a single cheese. For everything else, I want the cheddar on your board to taste the most like what I expect a cheddar to taste like so I can experience pairing it with a bunch of different things and experience how “generic cheddar flavour” is modified with each combo.
Variety if the key. Some people will enjoy sampling more than one type, others will stick to there preference. Something mild, something sharp, something with holes, something that looks moldy, something that’s not cheese, and several type of crackers.
I went to a fancy cheese shop - the kind where the staff waits on you, makes recommendations, and brings you as many samples as you desire.
This is what I bought (every one was delicious):
Havarti with herbs
Cranberry le roule
Tomme Saint Georges (sheep’s milk)
Widmer 8-year cheddar
Double cream brie
Ghost pepper Jack
The ghost pepper, which was the least expensive at $9.45/lb., was my favorite.
I didn’t realize until the next day that I had paid $45/lb. for the 8-year cheddar.
Besides the cheese, the tray contained assorted crackers, uncured sweet capocollo, uncured sweet sopressata, salami, red and green grapes, and Granny Smith apple wedges.
BTW, I soaked the apple wedges in salty water for 5 minutes, then rinsed them. They did not brown at all for 8+ hours and they did not taste of salt.
To be fair, my wife (who hates the taste of salt) detected its presence. Some others did not, others could detect a small amount but did not consider that a negative.
ETA: I used 1 1/2 tsp salt in 3 cups of water, soaked for 5 minutes, then rinsed.
ETA2: I just checked the leftover wedges kept in the fridge overnight. Still white and crispy.
A butcher shop near me has a cheese section, all the cheeses are made by a cousin of the butcher. Stopped by for a few items last week and checked out the cheese section, I was going to make grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner one night. Bought a piece of gouda with added cumin and cloves. The sandwiches were a big hit.