Real licorice, not Twizzlers. The anise flavor that is the is the hallmark of absinthe, ouzo, and the much maligned Malort.
My hypothesis is that most have strong opinions on the flavor.
Black licorice is one candy that I can buy where I know nobody else is going to get into it and eat it.
Somewhere between yuck and take-it-or-leave-it.
Good and Plenty is delicious
I like plain black licorice ribbons. But the sugar coating on G&P makes it beeter.
Red licorice blah!!! Nasty, I haven’t bought it since childhood.
I’ve even tried the salted black licorice from the Netherlands.
Not a hater, but not a fan either.
If I am eating a bunch of gumdrops, and one of them turns out to be licorice-flavored, I will not spit it out. But, given a choice, I would prefer almost any other flavor over licorice.
I actually do like Mexican biscocho cookies, which are flavored with anise. But the flavor is much more dilute than in the candy.
My response may not be statistically useful, because I had an instinctive desire to contradict your hypothesis. Sorry.
(Full answer: I like black licorice candy — the stronger the better. But don’t love it, and don’t care for licorice pastries or liquorish.)
Real licorice is really good.
Like this.
I think I like it, but I never buy it, maybe because what is easily available in stores is too sweet or adulterated with other flavors. And I guess I don’t love it, otherwise I would go out of my way to find the good stuff.
Right. Anise flavor can be good, when it’s so slight that you have to ask yourself “Is that a hint of anise I’m tasting?”. See also pizzelles.
But when there’s enough that there’s no question, it’s not good. And as the dominant flavor, like in licorice, it’s disgusting.
I really like licorice flavor but maybe not real licorice. One piece of that stuff from Scandinavia and I’m done (which is probably a healthier attitude toward candy than the one I was indoctrinated with).
My post history re:Licorice-
I’ve never tasted the gourmet licorice with natural flavor. It might be too strong.
Love it! But be careful. I just bought a bag of black licorice at a local grocery and it was some sugary imitation, with black food coloring. Imposter! Went right in the trash.
I’m not much into the candies or sweet liquors but enjoy the flavor and you’ll probably catch me sneaking a couple Good & Plenty capsules after all. Italian sausage with anise adjacent fennel is my #1 pizza topping.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
I’m surprised with 32 votes in, it’s 2/3 pro licorice. I would have bet at least the other way around. In my experience, easily most people I know dislike licorice. In this household, I’m the only one of four who likes it. As said above, it’s the candy I’d buy if I want to keep it all to myself, while still seeming generous in offering it.
Even better for me is Scandinavian salty licorice (salted with salmiak/ammonium chloride.) Literally no one (except for some people on this board) I know like it.
Me too. Maybe there is a selection bias of respondents?
My WAG is that there is also a correlation of licorice lovers for also liking dark chocolate, black coffee, and perhaps even less tendency to overindulge on sweets.
Since we have a high number of licorice fans here, how off the mark am I?
You nailed me. Even before I gave up almost all sweets for diabetes, I didn’t really have much of a taste for them.
Possibly. My anecdotal evidence is also that more than one third I’ve talked to on the subject dislike it. However it is always available to purchase, so either there is a minority of licorice lovers who eat a lot of licorice to make it commercially viable or there is a larger silent group of appreciators.
I like Lakrids a lot, but I find I don’t like eating many in a sitting. Which is almost certainly a good thing 
. They aren’t “moreish” because the very mild saltiness of the licorice they use for the coated varieties tends to slow me down.
Interestingly, their uncoated sweet black licorice is less (or not at all) salty and more moreish.
Yeah, that dislike includes me. The uber-salty varieties are just too much. Lakrids barely register as salty by comparison.