Cocktails with Old Tom gin
Old Tom gin is a lightly sweetened, juniper-forward style of gin that sits between dry London gin and the maltier Dutch genever.
ABV 40–47%
Taste profile
A slightly rounder, fuller mouthfeel than dry gin, finishing with a gentle sweetness that softens the juniper without turning the spirit sugary; strong botanical aroma throughout.
How it's used
Reach for it where a recipe wants gin's juniper backbone carried on a softer, faintly sweet base; it works as the base measure, stirred or shaken, and its light sweetness means less added syrup is needed for balance.
Substitutes for Old Tom gin
A dry, juniper-forward gin with a small measure of sugar syrup approximates it, since the defining sweetness is light and additive rather than built into the distillate; neither a dry gin alone nor a sweet liqueur reproduces the balance on its own.
Often confused with
Old Tom is sweetened, while London dry (London gin) is by definition essentially unsweetened, permitted no more than 0.1 g/L of sweetening under EU law. Both are juniper-forward English styles, and Old Tom is often framed as the sweeter predecessor of London dry.
