Old Tom Gin
The dominant English gin style in the 1700s and early 1800s, when base spirit was poorly rectified and required sugar and liquorice to be palatable. The column still's arrival in the 1830s made sweetening unnecessary, and London Dry supplanted it — but the pre-Prohibition cocktail canon was written around Old Tom's sweeter profile. The name allegedly derives from wooden black cat ('Old Tom') plaques on pub walls with coin slots that dispensed gin.
Flavor Profile
Moderate juniper, moderate to pronounced sweetness (compared to London Dry's none), full and soft body. Rounder and richer than London Dry. Some barrel-aged versions have whiskey-adjacent warmth. Designed to bridge the gap between 18th-century malty-sweet gin and modern dry gin.
Key Producers
10 botanicals, added sugar, the practical bartender's choice for classic Old Tom recipes
Wine barrel-aged, significant malt spirit base, historically informed rather than historically accurate, drinks between gin and bourbon