Probably the cream that coats the opening in the carton is what smells a bit off -- it is the most exposed and thus the most prone to spoiling or picking up bad odors in the fridge. It sounds like the cream is fine to use but most likely doesn't have a lot of time left. I might avoid the manky old opening and open the other side of the carton to pour it out.
For me personally, I still used that kind of heavy cream if it is just slightly sour-ish smell, it will be cooked (sauce, soup, etc), and the final result will only stay in fridge 2 days. Otherwise, I use fresh cream. Others might have better opinion about this.
Heavy cream/double cream often smells that way even when its relatively fresh - just a bit of oxidation would be my guess. It's probably fine, but it might not perform the best if you're trying to make anything other than soup or bechamel with it.
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