Sharp Provolone - good or smelly?

[abrader]

I eat alot of deli stuffs. I usually go thru 2-3 pounds of various cured/dry hams and cheeses a week.

For months I had seen this "sharp provolone" by Boars Head at the deli. Im not a huge provolone fan - I think its one of those cheese like mozzarella - its just kinda there and has minimal flavour. Im usually much more interested in the sharpest, dryest, hardest cheddar I can find. I also LOVE BH's horseradish cheddar with hot cappy and spicey roast beef on a sandwhich with hot peppers and fresh crushed black pepper.

Anyway I always wanted to try this sharp provolone but the deli doods would always talk me out of it by telling me it tatsed awful and smelled even worse. Mostly everything I buy at the deli is like 10$ a pound so I never wanted to waste money on it because I trust the deli masters judgement....

I finally gave in to the mystery and went for a lb of it - damn its like one of the best cheeses I ever had - it smells strong, but it tastes like provolone went out on a date with parm cheese. I havent tried it hot or melted yet (like grilled cheese) - it takes the best elements of a sharp cheddar and totally makes a man out of plain old provolone.

Whats your experience with the sharp provolone?

[Ichirou]

I'll try pretty much any variety of cheese at least once.  There's some kinds I don't like (like blue cheese, except in dressing form), and there's others I adore (sharp cheddar, provolone, muenster, manchego, gorgonzola), but I will give any cheese a try at least once.  I mean, goat cheese is super smelly, but it's also one of the best varieties of cheese.

Also, posting to bump this because a thread on cheese deserves at least one reply.