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The ideal would be to include a sample from each type of cheese.

Type of Cheese Semisoft/Soft: Soft, creamy, usually mild
Classics Old Chatham Sheepherding Company's Hudson Valley Camembert, a combination of sheep's and cow's milk; Coach Farm's triple-cream goat.
Unusual picks Azeitão from Setúbal, Portugal. A slightly tart sheep's-milk cheese made with thistle as the rennet (the enzyme used to create curds).

Type of Cheese Semihard/Hard: Salty; firm or crumbly
Classics Vermont Shepherd, a sheep's-milk cheese from Major Farms; bandage-wrapped cheddar from Fiscalini Cheese in California.
Unusual picks Carmody from Bellwether Farms in California. Tangy for a cow's-milk cheese; even though it's aged three months, it has a fresh-milk flavor.

Type of Cheese Washed-rind: Bathed in liquids like Calvados or saltwater during ripening so the rind is orange or red; the stinkiest of cheeses
Classics Buttery Epoisses from Burgundy, France; salty, square Taleggio from Italy's Lombardy region; Alsatian Munster, which has hints of hazelnut.
Unusual picks Livarot, a cow's-milk cheese from Normandy, France.Traditionally wrapped in five strips of raffia.

Type of Cheese Blue: Veined, musty
Classics Original Blue from Point Reyes Farmstead Company in California; Rogue River Blue from Rogue Creamery in Oregon.
Unusual picks Mild, rich Cashel Blue from County Tipperary in Ireland. "It's a beautifully balanced blue—not too salty, with lots of flavor," Werlin says.