If you’re familiar with Old Tom Gins then you’ll know how delightful they are. The style was commonplace in 18th Century England when distillation techniques were crude and harsh spirits were the norm. To make the gin more palatable they were flavoured quite richly and sweetened, though not as sweet as Genever, generally regarded as the forerunner to gin, which came across from Holland in the 16th Century.

Old Tom gins gave way to London Dry’s in around 1830 when the Coffey Still was invented. This revolutionised spirits production and brought with it much purer and cleaner liquids which the gin makers embraced.