These are the real deal, not pasteurized.  The american almond has a hard crunch to them.  These have a slight mealy taste initially but are moister in the middle.  They have a sweet taste to them to, never had that in an american almond.  If you want to avoid propylene oxide, definitely check these out.  edit: I originally gave this 4 stars but I keep getting almonds that I believe are rancid.  I'm  not sure what rancid tastes like  but it tastes like the almond is soaked in nutrasweet and then it changes to something very bitter and disgusting like vanilla extract, except these almonds taste much worse.  I had a few almonds that were off but I am now coming across almonds that fit my description of completely inedible.  These almonds are expensive, I would have expected a better quality especially when the label says they are good for another year.  I don't know if I will buy these again.