Can I get recommendations for good licorice? I'm not sure I've ever had any. My mom loved the stuff.
Wow, that's really a tough question. The styles are very different from one product to the next, and from one country to the next. What I got above is mostly nordic salty licorice, which is my favorite, but *will not* be to everyone's taste. I'll give a small list of products I think are worth trying.
Amarelli - Small hard drops. Will probably be broken during shipping. A good throat soother, and something to keep on a desk and mindlessly grab. Not sweet aside from licorice natural sweetness. Italian. If you search amazon, you'll find lots of interesting tins. I like the vintage ones. If it says "Amarelli", they're all the same product, just different packaging.
School Chalk - Fazer and Venco are the big names. Fazer might be a smidge better, but Venco's much cheaper. A crunchy Compressed mint powder over a chewy licorice core. Dutch or Finnish
Panda - Probably the licorice you're familiar with, but maybe better if you've never had it. Just a sweet, soft, chewy licorice from Finland. You can probably find it locally.
Suklaa laku kuulat - This one may be polarizing, but I think it's delicious. It's a white chocolate/salty licorice covering over soft licorice drop. I doubt you've had anything close to it. The saltiness is fairly subdued for a salty licorice, so it may be approachable if you keep an open mind. Finland
Cachou lajaunie - This is basically Sen Sen if you've ever had that. The classic alcoholics choice for covering up liquor breath :^D Very tiny drops that just add flavor to your mouth, and freshen breath. France
Terva - Tar licorice from Finland. This is also getting into the 'you may not like this' territory, but it's very unique. A medium soft drop with lightly salted licorice and pine tar. Good for a sore throat.
Pommix - You probably won't like this. This is a salty licorice explosion. It's a mix of hard licorice, and hard caramel licorice shells filled with ammonium chloride powder. They'll make your mouth raw if you eat too many in a sitting, but these are some of my favorites. It has a bit of an old fashioned cough drop character until you get to the powder center, and then you'll either be delighted or appalled, or it could grow on you. Finland
In all cases, when I say "salty licorice" the salt is ammonium chloride, not sodium chloride, so it has a bit of an ammonia character. Also, you don't want to eat huge quantities of this stuff over an extended period. It can literally kill you. Licorice can affect your heart, and ammonium chloride is bad for you in large doses, but I can't say exactly what it'll do. It's of no concern if you're healthy, and eat reasonable quantities, but if you start gorging on it over a few days, it might not be good.
edit:
I forgot licorice All Sorts from Britain! These aren't necessarily a favorite of mine, and the linked brand is probably good, but I don't have a keen grasp on who makes the best. This is a classic English candy. Very sweet, and fairly light on the licorice. Soft and chewy. Definitely worth getting if you're ordering anyway. Your licorice tour wouldn't be complete without these. You may find them locally if you have a good candy store, or a British foods shop.