Walnuts taste funky to me. Poor crops? Poor quality?

[LuckyLib]

California drought affected the crop?

[Tetrachloride]

1. Suggest put in the freezer.

Avoid nuts for a day. Go buy another package from a different store. my 2 cents in safety

[TygrBright]

2. Possibly black walnuts versus "English" (Persian) walnuts?

"Wild" walnuts in the U.S. are mostly the variety called black walnuts and they have a pronounced earthy flavor that resembles blue cheese to me - tastes "moldy" to some people. (Roasting them moderates it somewhat.)

Most walnuts sold for cooking in the US are from Persian walnut trees (mostly called "English" walnut now) and they are much milder in flavor although they can vary greatly.

Could you have gotten black walnut meats instead of English?

curiously,
Bright

[RockRaven]

3. How confident are you in the sourcing? Could they be old/rancid?

[Grasswire2]

4. I eat California walnuts every day.

Haven't seen any change.

I might think yours have been stored in a damp area? I would dump them. What brand are they?

[Warpy]

5. If they taste hot, they're rancid

Nuts in the shell keep for quite a while. Once they're out of the shell, they can turn rancid very quickly. The first sign is a hot flavor. The smell follows later.

I would suggest you try some from a huge store with a faster turnover rate. Or buy them in the shell and do the hard work.

[yorkster]

6. About a year ago noticed something similar.

Tried several brands and they tasted a bit greasy, off somehow.
Then I checked the store brand and they were much better - fresh and well, nutty.
The store is Hannafords, now owned by a large conglomerate. Pkg. says made in U.S. You could possibly get them online. I buy halves and pieces. The quality has been uniformly good.

[LuckyLib]

7. Thanks for the feedback. These came from a store with

several locations in a large metropolitan area. I alway check dates, so expiration shouldn’t be a problem. It may be that I’m accustomed to Persian and these are black walnuts.

[Kali]

8. black walnuts have a VERY distinctive flavor

I don't think I have ever seen them for sale in bulk anywhere, but that may be because I don't care for them and don't look either. I think they would be quite expensive.

https://nuts.com/nuts/walnuts/black/1lb.html

Black Walnuts vs. English Walnuts

Most notably, black walnuts are recognized for having a bolder, earthier flavor than standard English walnuts. Cultivated only in the U.S. and grown in the wild, black walnuts are also very rare and harder to find than their English counterpart. They have thicker shells that are more tough to crack and can stain hands (these black walnuts already have the shells removed). Black walnuts contain more protein per ounce than any other tree nut, making them a more nutritionally dense snack option.