Gustaf'sEnglish Licorice Allsorts - 2.5 LB

I know there have been many reviews, hyper-critical about packaging and freshness. But I decided to try them and received my first order today. To begin with, the packaging was absolutely first rate…the product was bagged in air tight cellophane and then sealed in a heavy duty cardboard box. On trying the product, the taste was delicious and comparable to other Allsorts I’ve had. With regards to freshness, while the layered pieces were slightly firm to the bite, they tasted fresh and, for me, were totally acceptable (and not tooth-cracking hard as some have reported). The black licorice “logs” were very soft and chewy…which said to me that the candy was in fact freshly packaged and that the firmness of the layered pieces was more about the way they were manufactured/formulated in the first place. All in all, I am very pleased with the purchase and, if this is any indication, I will definitely be re-ordering again in the future.

If you love licorice, this is a real treat! A variety of licorice candies that are addictive! Nice balance of licorice and sugar. Fresh, soft, and tasty!

5 years in Germany, family ate these all the time. Ordered here in USA, hoping to bring back great family memories. What a disappointment from this company which have good products. The 2.5 lb bag smelled stale when opened, the yellow, pink and layered licorice were very hard- dried out to stale. Taste was bad. Closed bag and wanted to return for fresh one, Amazon says no on return. Sent vendor same note and no answer. Expiration date on package 1 mar 2025. Do not buy from this vendor, maybe I got a bad 2.5 lb batch, But NO ONE CARES, read carefully Amazon return policy before order for candy, food, etc. no protection for customer if vendor sends poor quality item. A costly garbage run.

I was hoping for a much better product. This was very stale, I had a very hard time chewing the pieces and they were very discolored. I know when my dad used to buy these they were much softer and tasted much better. Thinking about sending it back.

I first tried this while on vacation at a Midwest tourist area. A relatively small store sold many kinds of candy including Gustaf’s Allsorts. I found the candy was a bit hard to chew but it had good licorice flavor. After getting back from vacation I decided to order more of this licorice and found it through Amazon. I bought a 2-1/2# package for less than I paid for an 8 oz container I had earlier. I ordered it and two days later I had my first taste of a moist, soft, fresh candy that took me back to my childhood. This was a very satisfying purchase that I will surely make again.

I bought some Allsorts from a bin at Savannah Candies while we were visiting there and really enjoyed them. When they ran out, I went for these. These came very stale. Instead of being soft and chewy, they crumble when you bite into them. If you want fresh, there are other brands for sale on Amazon that are praised for that. If you want cheap and aren’t fussy about freshness and texture, you can’t beat these.

Terrific bag of Allsorts - and delicious

I'm a big black licorice fan, and a longtime lover of what is known on this site as "licorice rockies". However, every time I have purchased them, I notice that some commenter or other has made reference to them being "not as good as Gustav's Allsorts." So this year, I decided to try the Allsorts instead. Womp, womp.These are a mixture of passable, but not great, loosely licorice-y confections, divided into a few categories. The problem I have with all of them is that none of them is the dark black hard licorice I'm after when I buy rockies.The white, sugar-and-palm-oil-based confection on the outsides of the squares is just ok. It's not very flavorful (bland sugar) except the lemon flavor, which for some reason are the pink, not the yellow ones. Adding coconut to the mixture doesn't do much for it except make it tougher and coconutty.The "licorice" squares in the center of these confections tastes more like molasses than like anise, which is a disappointment because their texture is good. I'm after licorice candy, not molasses candy.The only truly anise-y offerings are the cylindrical drops coated in the tiny white nonpareil balls. However, these aren't hard black licorice, they are the texture of oozy chewy gummies. So they don't quite fill the bill for me, either.Additionally, the entire bag was of questionable freshness.I don't mean to be picky, but, I will not ever be ordering these again. And hey, now I know.