first smoked cheese

It will get a very mild smoke taste. I do mine 2 1/2 hrs and it is perfect for me after a couple months rest...

I would suggest you do a couple bricks a week and vary the smoking time as well as the woods used.  Take good notes on what you did to each batch and then just wait.  I've seen people recommend smoking times anywhere from 45minutes to several hours.  I think it's a matter of personal taste, so you really need to experiment.  I personally like to smoke mine 4-6 hours.  I also use straight hickory (cheese is the only thing I use straight hickory on). 

Whatever you do, don't get impatient and break into it too soon.  Any cheese no matter how long it's smoked will taste and smell like a campfire until it mellows.  Softer cheeses mellow quicker and harder cheeses take a little longer.  I know everyone recommends around 10 days, but I say that is a bare minimum.  I think it tastes best after a month or more.  You might be asking how the heck do you restrain yourself so long?  Well luckily for me, I'm forgetful.  I vac seal my cheese and stash it in the coldest part of my fridge which just happens to be in the very back where it's out of sight.  

The other thing I do is smoke several bricks of different cheeses at once.  My usual regime is two bricks sharp cheddar, two bricks pepper jack, one brick muenster, one brick monzerella.  Reason being, monzerella is the one cheese that doesn't require much aging (48 hours is enough, although it too gets better with time).  If I really can't keep my hands out of it, I break into the monzerella first, and by the time I've eaten through it the muenster and pepper jack are starting to mature.  

I also like to smoke my next batch as soon as I open a batch so I can keep a good stock going all the time.  I'm working on some now that I smoked on 12/2/12.  First broke into it last week (1/13/13) and smoked another 6 bricks the same day. 

I can't wait long to dig into it but i've read that cheese will "sharpen" somewhat  with time so i think i'll eat my cheddar's and sharp cheddar's first.