The crystals are just from aging it for longer, aren't they? Of course a 36 month Comté vs. 4 month Gruye won't have that many similarities compared to a 12 month Comté vs. 12 month Gruyere.

Correct.Yeah they are.

You specify the range of age you want when you buy comté.

For Gruyère, I never saw that, but it might be because I grew up a few hours from where it’s made.

To clarify : real gruyère is a great cheese. But comte is one of my favorite.

Man I miss cheese.

I've never been so angry because of an HN comment, nom d'une pipe en bois. But cheers from Switzerland anyway, let's enjoy cheese while we still have a sense of taste.

Non mais vous avez mieux que le gruyère pour rentrer en compète avec le comté non?

The crystals are not salt but amino acid, mainly tyrosine.

Also calcium lactate, which is a salt.

Ok. They are pretty salty and transparent.