Our Top Recommended Old Tom Gins

Ransom Spirits in Oregon collaborated with spirits author, David Wondrich, to produce this classic gin that was popular during pre-Prohibition times. Made from a grain bill of corn and barley (of which 85% is malted and 15% is unmalted), it's distilled through an alambic copper pot still. The organic botanicals used are juniper berries, orange peel, lemon peel, coriander seed, cardamom pods, and angelica root. After a 6 to 12 month aging period in French wine oak barrels, the gin is bottled at 44% ABV.

Sacred Gin is produced in a micro-distillery in North London. Rather than using a traditional pot-still for production, vacuum-distillation is used which requires a far lower temperature. Sacred Old Tom Gin is their high-strength interpretation of the 18th century classic. Botanicals such as juniper, licorice root and orange peel are used.

Unlike some other Old Tom gins, Anchor's derives its sweetness from distillation with star anise, licorice root, and stevia. The spirit is distilled in copper pot-stills and is not chill-filtered. It was first introduced in September 2004 and is bottled at 45% ABV.

Louisville-based Copper & Kings have created this Old Tom gin using a grape brandy base. Distilled using copper pot stills, no neutral spirit is added. Traditional gin botanicals are steeped after the first distillation and then added to the still via vapor infusion for the second distillation. Their Old Tom gin is then aged briefly in former Kentucky bourbon barrels. Non chill-filtered, it is bottled at 50% ABV.

Zuidam Distillers makes a variety of spirits including whisky, rum, and gin. Their Old Tom gin is produced using 10 botanicals, including elderflower, iris root, whole lemons and whole vanilla beans. They are individually distilled and blended before dilution to their desired bottling proof. It is then placed in new, American oak barrels for a brief period. It is bottled at 40% and is currently available for sale in Europe and Hong Kong.

As the rich golden color confirms, Spring44’s take on an Old Tom Gin is barrel aged. The Coloradans individually distill organic juniper, toasted coriander, orris root, galangal root, fresh grapefruit peel, fresh rosemary, and lemon grass before aging the blend for 2-4 months in toasted American oak barrels. The resulting spirit is gently sweetened with agave nectar before bottling.

Old Tom Gin was all the rage in 18th century England. Old Tom’s are known as a fuller bodied and sweeter style of gin. Today the style has seen a great resurgence and has opened the door for many gin makers to play around with oak aging. This gin is made from 100% pot distilled corn, juniper, and “other botanicals inspired by the spice trade of the prevailing era.” It is aged for 1 year in bourbon casks and then finished in oloroso sherry casks. The final product is bottled at 50.05% ABV.

Using old family recipes and a copper pot-still named Marjorie (after the current chairman's mother), the Hayman range captures the different and popular styles of gins throughout history. Distilled from 100% grain, steeped with botanicals before distillation, and sweetened with sugar, their reproduction of the classic 18th century Old Tom Gin is no exception. The botanical blend includes juniper, coriander, lemon peel, orange peel, angelica root, cinnamon, cassia bark, orris root, licorice, and nutmeg. It's bottled at 40% ABV.

First introduced in October 2016, Citadelle No Mistake Old Tom Gin is a limited edition release from Maison Ferrand. Caribbean brown sugar is toasted, slightly browned, and then alcoholized. This toasted sugar is then aged in spirit casks for 3-4 months. The aged toasted sugar is then added to its Citadelle Reserve Gin, a barrel-aged version of their standard gin, and it spends a further for four months into casks to ensure proper absorption. Bottled at 46% ABV.

Released in 2014 as a limited edition run of 100,000 bottles, Tanqueray Old Tom Gin was inspired from a recipe of Charles Tanqueray's from the 1830's. The botanicals used are the same as the original Tanqueray (juniper, angelica root, coriander, and licorice), but the proportions differ. The gin is sweetened from beet sugar. The label is a replica of their Old Tom Gin label which was discontinued in 1921. It is sold in a 1L sized bottle at 47.3% ABV.

Caledonia Spirits named their barrel-aged gin after the black cat sign that used to hang outside pubs following Gin Acts instituted by the English parliament in the 1730s. These acts raised the price of gin, opening a black market of illegal production, and the cat display was a "discreet" way for patrons to know if an establishment sold gin. To make Tom Cat Gin, the distillery takes their original Barr Hill Gin and ages it for 4 to 6 months in American oak barrels. It is bottled at 43% ABV.

This gin is made from a 1783 recipe. It is distilled at the Langley Distillery in England in a copper pot-still with 11 botanicals including juniper, coriander, lemon and orange peels, licorice and cinnamon. Post-distillation, a small amount of sugar is added to create a "Old Tom" style gin. It is sold in cleaned, former Champagne bottles and is sealed with wax. Bottled at 44% ABV.