Old Tom was not just sweetened London Dry gin, it was made pretty differently. Pot still compared to Column/Coffey stills, usually lack of citrus, slightly muted juniper, and some sweetness. If someone makes a London dry gin, chucks in some sugar and then calls it an Old Tom gin then they clearly don’t know its history.
Hey David, thanks for the comment you raise a really good point! You’re completely right that it isn’t necessarily just sweetened London Dry gin. Old Tom is super interesting and could probably be a much larger topic than just a snippet in the video. There is so much variation in Old Tom recipes that other than the sweetness there isn’t really any other “defining” characteristics anymore. Gin evolved a lot over the 19th Century, and the Old Tom you describe was very likely the most common profile around the early 1800s, but by the end of the century was very different as ingredients, technology (the coffee still in the 1830s), legislation and peoples preference changed. Nowadays there is as much variation in Old Tom Gin as what there is in the Gin category as a whole. It seems the major producers are all basing theirs on the latter 1800s style with a more neutral spirit (hence why I described it the way I did for simplicity sake) - Hayman’s, Tanqueray, Jensen’s, Hernö, etc. But there are some smaller craft producers recreating the early 1800s style from a pot still with a slightly malty spirit as you describe. The missing link between Genever and London Dry if you will. As for botanicals well there are still no rules other than juniper being number 1 so it can be classified as gin, but again a subjective topic that in the 1800s would have been dictated by availability and preferences of the day. I’ll pin your comment if anyone wishes to delve any deeper… Cheers! 🍸
I usually don't write comments on yt, but this video is excellent. The music is very subtle which is great, I can concentrate much better. There's nothing flashy and distracting here, just very well explained and broken down easy to understand info. Thank you for this video, I'm excited to check out the rest of your content!
Slowly making my way through your videos. While I’ve been drinking gin for years it’s only recently I’ve branched away from Tanqueray & tonic. My eyes and senses have been opened. Thanks for such an informative breakdown. Will help with decision making when exploring new gins. Awesome job.
Great summary for people like me who like gin but are not as informed about it as they are for other spirits such as whisky, so thanks a lot ! Cheers from France !
I start to drink Gin recently and with that it came the curiosity to know more about it. I couldn't find anywhere on RU-vid a best explanation than yours. Keep it up with the good work mate.
Great tutorial on a very necessary component in my home bar. You literally taught me more than 20 things that I didn't know I was missing from my knowledge pool. Thanks!
Wish I could find some Bathtub in my area of the USA. Also, giving the name "gin" to "genever" is like saying that "cachaca" is "rum." Genever is a very broad category of spirit that rivals gin itself.
As a forager in the uk and a gin maker I have to say sloes are not known as hawthorn berries, slows grow on the blackthorn and hawthorn or haw berries come from the hawthorn. Both edible though!
Hey Tim, great video! We agree, there are so many different styles and types of gin and that's why we created The Spirit Cupboard! Feel free to check it out!
This video is excellent! Going to binge watch your videos! Just getting into gin. I used to drink vodka and it made me so.. unreasonable let's say lol. So far, I have only tried tanqueray (which I LOVE) and bombay (which I HATE). Purchased a bottle of sipsmith London dry and martin miller for Christmas. I can't wait to try them! Merry Miller Sipsmith😂🍸🎄
I heard "Navy Strength" gin was issued to the ship's surgeon to use as an anesthetic (it would work as an antiseptic too, but they probably didn't know that). Most commons sailors were issued Rum, yo ho ho and all that.... Can't say I'm much interested in the "barrel aged" or "shiraz" gins, although i'll try anything once. if I want barrel aged spirit, scotch/irish/American whisk(e)y is unbeatable, if i want shiraz, a nice Barossa red is perfect. For Gin, I'm looking for different botanicals, maybe some native Australian, e.g.: Myrtle, Eucalyptus (in moderation!), macadamia, other bush herbs
At what temperature should we distill the macerated liquid so that we get best flavour & aroma without any off notes. Will low temperature such as 50 or 60 degree celcius woukd work or not. Or 80 degree is neccesary for distillation. Hoping for a quick reply from ur side it will help me a lot. Thanks in advance.
Bombay is absolutely not made in London. The distillery is 70 miles south west of London. I know we all know the Queen here and we have half a dozen “London” airports that aren’t in the city, but not everything in the South is London. We just say we live in London when we meet people abroad.. Also, about London Dry; you can add alcohol to the distillate when creating a multi shot gin. Only water and/neutral alcohol are permitted. Also 37.5% is the EU standard. It’s 40 in the States.
