Simply V produces these Intense gourmet slices next to the Mild slices. On the website Simply V shows an intensity scale, where these slices come in at the maximum score of five, while the Mild slices mark a score of only one. As mentioned in the Mild slices review, we did not identify such a difference when tasting both these types of slices ourselves. Rather than having a marked difference in intensity (as being more or less powerful in taste), we thought the tastes are simply different.1
Whereas the Mild slices we classified as being closest to a Gouda-style, the Intense slices we think are more similar to the Swiss Emmental-style, that is, mostly based on its smell. The taste we found to be on the sweet and salty side, and as with the Mild slices, we note some potato-like taste. The ‘gourmet’ in the name of these slices we could not really place. Why would these be gourmet compared to the Mild slices?
Recently we reviewed the Violife Original slices, which was the vegan cheese highest in salt so far, at 2.3 grams per 100 grams. It was already equalled by Simply V’s Mild slices, but these Intense slices top both those cheeses and are now the vegan cheese highest in salt we have reviewed so far, measuring salt contents at 2.7 grams per 100 grams.
Overall, think this not something to eat by itself in blocks or slices on a cheese platter. Also, we enjoyed the taste of the Intense a bit less than the Mild slices, which we therefore rated a bit higher. These Intense slices melt well and we thought we would probably prefer it served on a grilled cheese sandwich rather than cold.
