What is Old Tom gin?
Old Tom gin: Slightly sweetened or rounder style of gin, popular in the 1800s.
- Category
- Spirit
- Taste
- Softer and sweeter than London dry, still juniper-led.
- Strength
- About 40-47% ABV
- Similar to
- London dry gin with a touch of sugar
- Also called
- old tom
The story
Legend has it that 1700s London pubs had a wooden plaque shaped like a black cat (an "old tom"). You put a coin in its mouth and gin poured out of a tube under its paw.