Old Tom Gin represents a style of gin which was popular in 18th Century England prior to the introduction of London Dry Gin. According to gin lore, Old Tom Gin derived its name from Captain Dudley Bradstreet who in the early 1700’s purchased property in London which had a good amount of gin on the premises. He set a picture of a “tom cat” upon the window facing outside and allowed word to be spread that gin was available at the establishment with the cat in the window. A passerby who wanted a shot of gin would place a penny in a slot in the wall under the windowed cat which would roll into the establishment signalling the bartender inside to pour out a shot of gin which would be funneled into a tube running through the wall. The passerby would either drink it directly from the tube or collect it to consume later. Apparently this practice spread throughout London, and gin generically became know as that ‘Old Tom’ Gin in reference to the Tom Cat which signaled the presence of gin within an establishment.
Hayman’s Old Tom Gin is said to be produced from an old English recipe which can be traced to the 18th century prior to the introduction of the Coffey Still. However, many old cocktail books from the 19th century still refer to Old Tom Gin in their recipes, and the recent cocktail renaissance has led to a renewed demand for the Old Tom Style.
In my review for Hayman’s Old Tom, I concluded that this softer style of gin yearns for a variety of different ingredients to mix with. As well, I noted that it isn’t necessarily a natural fit naturally for the traditional Gin and Tonic Cocktail which would more typically be constructed with a London Dry Gin. However, as the Hayman’s Gin is the only Old Tom I have access to, I decided to include it in my challenge. I found that when I used both Lemon and Lime to build my G&T (see recipe here), the results were actually quite pleasant. (A drop or two of grapefruit bitters is a great addition as well!)
My resulting G&T Score for Hayman’s Old Tom gin is a respectable 82/100 points!
You may find my running tally of all of the G&T Scores here:
Rum Howler 2014 Gin and Tonic Challenge
As well you may read my published review of Hayman’s Old Tom Gin here:
Review: Hayman’s Old Tom
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Note: According to their website, Hayman Distillers is the longest serving family owned gin distiller in England today. Their Old Tom Gin has recently arrived in the Alberta market imported by Lifford Spirits who provided me with a bottle to review upon my website.
Bombay Sapphire is a brand of gin owned and distributed by Bacardi. It was launched in 1987 and draws its unusual name from a competition where several marketing agencies were asked to submit possible names and bottle designs for the new Gin. Bombay Sapphire, the chosen name, refers to the British Empire and the heritage for the spirit in India as gin was an extremely popular spirit during the time of the British Raj. The Star of Bombay (featured on the label) is a famous Indian Sapphire now on display at the Smithsonian Institute.
Citadelle Gin
Broker’s Gin
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