What is it about blue cheese that prompts a look of genuine disgust – even fear – in some people?
Perhaps it’s the proposition of eating something so visibly mouldy, or the pungent aromas and powerful flavours that veined cheeses deliver, but blues seem to give people the ick like no other.
It is invariably the most challenging category for participants in the cheese tastings and classes I host, while one Telegraph reader recently commented that in her house blue cheese is “carefully cordoned off”; if mouldy bread is off the menu, she argues, “why would I eat mouldy cheese?”
My answer? So as not to miss out on one of the great wonders of the dairy world – in which blue mould spreads through the body of the cheese to produce flavours that can be rich and buttery as well as spicy and piquant. Not all blues blow your socks off: some are gentle and delicate, while others are fruity or savoury.
Even creamy, mild Boursin – as safe a bet as you can find on a cheeseboard – now has a blue-cheese flavour in its range, intended to appeal to “blue cheese avoiders”.
Don’t stop there, though; here are 11 shades of blue to tempt you onto the strong stuff…
Blue cheese, ranked from least to most pungent
Montagnolo Affine
Pungency rating: 1/10
- £3 for 160g from Tesco
- £6.50 for 250g from The Cheese Society
- £9.50 for 250g from George & Joseph Cheesemongers
A blue cheese from Germany for people who don’t like blue. Enriched with double cream to create a clotted-cream texture and restrained pastel streaks, it’s rich and buttery with barely a whisper of blue flavour.
Gorgonzola Dolce
Pungency rating: 3/10
- £3.70 for 200g from Waitrose
- £8.30 for 250g from The Courtyard Dairy
- £11.45 for 250g from La Fromagerie
The clue is in the name. Italy’s most famous blue is sweet (dolce) and tastes fermented, almost boozy, with a texture so soft it can be scooped like ice cream. Will melt the hearts of even the most hardened blue-cheese haters.
Buffalo Blue
Pungency rating: 3/10
- £8.50 for 170g from Shepherds Purse
- £10.50 for 175g from George & Joseph Cheesemongers
There’s more than twice the cream in water buffalo milk as cow’s milk, which is why this marbled cheese is so moreish. Made in Yorkshire by Shepherd’s Purse, it is dense and creamy, but with a light, salty finish.
Harbourne Blue
Pungency rating: 5/10 (but sometimes 8/10)
- £9.22 for 212g from The Cheese Shed
- £12.30 for 170g from Neal’s Yard Dairy
Goat’s milk blues are few and far between because balancing the spiciness of blue veins and the barnyard tendencies of goat’s milk is tricky. Harbourne from Devon manages to be light, crumbly and floral, but be warned, the flavour amps up considerably in mature cheeses.
Saint Agur
Pungency rating: 5/10
- £3.20 for 150g from Sainsbury’s and Tesco
- £3.35 for 150g from Waitrose
There’s a lot to unpack in this supermarket stalwart. Peppery, salty and buttery with a texture that’s smooth and spreadable, but firm enough to slice. We’ve hit the midpoint of pungency here.
Young Buck
Pungency rating: 6/10
- £8.95 for 250g from The Courtyard Dairy
- £9.47 for 250g from Rennet & Rind
Young Buck is Northern Ireland’s only raw milk cheese and it’s all the better for it. The fudgey Belfast cheese ticks all the flavours, from malty sweetness and pear-like acidity to a long salty, savoury finish, plus a hint of dark chocolate bitterness.
Colston Bassett Stilton
Pungency rating: 6/10
- £4 for 200g from Waitrose
- £8.75 for 250g from George & Joseph Cheesemongers
- £11.90 for 300g from Neal’s Yard Dairy
All too often Stilton is sold too young when it’s sharp and metallic. But Colston Bassett in Nottinghamshire shows just why it is considered the king of British blues. Biscuity and creamy with meaty, umami depths.
Blue Brain
Pungency rating: 7/10
- £8.99 for 150g from Calder Cheese House
- £9.90 for 120g from Jumi
So named because of its brain-like, crenelated rind of blue, grey and white moulds, this soft Swiss cheese looks fearsome, but the paste within is mild and milky, with a nicely judged kick of spice. (Old Blue Brain, aged for six months, is a different matter. It’s eye-wateringly piquant.)
Lanark Blue
Pungency rating: 7/10
- £9 for 200g from Mellis
- £13.30 for 250g from The Courtyard Dairy
- £17.15 for 250g from La Fromagerie
This Scottish raw sheep’s blue was once described as a “kilt lifter” but has mellowed in recent years. It remains a spicy slice, but it’s harmonious rather than spiky.
Roquefort
Pungency rating: 8/10
- £2.75 for 100g from Ocado
- £3 for 100g from Waitrose
- £13.76 for 215g from The Fine Cheese Co
Saline, sharp and with a texture like fondant, France’s famous raw milk blue has a horseradish piquancy that can open up the airways and bring a tear to the eye.
Cabrales
Pungency rating: 10/10
- £10.25 for 150g from Brindisa
- £10.35 for 200g from The Cheese Lady
This psychedelic crumbly cheese, matured in caves in the Picos de Europa mountains in Asturias, Spain, crackles with fermented fruit flavours and is so spicy it numbs your lips. Like licking a battery.
Why you can trust us
Patrick McGuigan is a cheese writer and educator. He is the author of The Philosophy of Cheese and The Cheese Life. His new book, co-written with Carlos Yescas, is called One Cheese to Rule Them All and will be published in November 2025.