Last week, I was at Dean and DeLuca buying some cheese when one of the new counterpeople enthusiastically offered to show me one of his new favorite cheeses.  The folks on the counter at the shop know I'm a veteran of many cheese wars and respect my knowledge and appreciate my enthusiasm, so I was all too happy to see this newbie showing some pride and joy in the very good selection offered at D&D.
He brought me a taste of a Wensleydale with Porter; he beamed while my face fell.

I regrouped quickly and took him aside to tell him that for the most part, cheese with something in it is to be mistrusted  (Monterrey Jack with peppers and fresh chevre with garlic and herbs are notable exceptions to this rule as they are made for cooking).  Most cheesemakers want their cheeses to stand on their own and offer a nice complexity of flavors that adeptly reflect the environment that they are from.  It's the failed, or subpar batches that are "rescued with seasonings. 

The newbie looked a bit sad, but understood that it was part of the learning process;  he's still new to cheese.  Most of us are.  But it's a simple rule, when you eat cheese, you want to taste cheese, not some extrinsic element.  It's parallel to beer.  The weaker batches get seasoned with some fruit to hide their inferiorities. 

-MJ