My chocolate tastes like cardboard!

So, I’ve been in China for a while now, and can’t seem to find Milky Way candy bars anywhere. Not a big deal, but I had a big craving recently, so I ordered some from online. They came packed in a brown cardboard box, and the first one I tried tasted strongly like cardboard.

Again, not a huge deal, but I’d rather taste more chocolate and caramel, and less cardboard. Is there anything that can be done to help lessen that taste in the rest of my candy bars?

How many did you buy, whom did you buy them from, was there some sort of date code/lot number on the packaging, how were they shipped, how were they wrapped?

Possibly they’re ruined beyond recoverability. Sounds like the cardboard may have gotten damp during storage or shipping. I don’t like to bring up the “M” words, but mold and mildew might be factors in causing them to taste musty. Do you have some way you can “air them out” without sacrificing them to the local arthropod population?

Store them in a non-porous container with baking soda or silica gel?

And my cardboard tastes like chocolate! Two great tastes that taste great together, Reese’s new Chocolate Cardboard cups.